In 1999, after graduating from the highly regarded Chengdu School of Foreign Languages in southwestern China's Sichuan province, she enrolled at Harvard University on a full scholarship to study applied mathematics and economics.
Although Ivy League universities were known in China, few undergraduates chose to study there. Many didn't even know it was an option.
So when Liu's mother and stepfather published a book titled harvard girl When she told her daughter's story and the role they played in her education, it became a national sensation.
The book sold more than 2 million copies in China and created an obsession among Chinese parents to send their sons and daughters to American universities.
It also gave rise to a new parenting style known as. wrinklesor “Chicken Blood Parenting,” in which parents actively pressure their children to excel academically.
However, in recent years there has been a backlash, and Liu's parents' methods have been increasingly criticized and even called “extreme.”
One example revealed in the book is a method aimed at increasing Ryu's resilience, which involves exposure to ice.
She said she once held her finger on a frozen cube for eight minutes, and although she felt “excruciating pain” and then “complete paralysis”, she proudly called it a “huge victory”. Told.
According to Liu's LinkedIn page, she worked at Boston Consulting Group and PepsiCo after graduating from Harvard University in 2003. In 2016, she became chief operating officer of investment management firm Coalescent Partners.
She married Scott Sambar, a Harvard student who until last year was a partner at the law firm Seward & Kissel.
On mainland social media, some expressed disappointment that Liu had become “an ordinary American middle class”, contrary to expectations that he would make greater achievements and contributions.
Others said that Ms. Liu's life was exactly the kind of success they had envisioned, and defined success as more than simply achieving a wealthy lifestyle.
“Success isn't about getting into a top university and making a lot of money. It's about having the freedom to be yourself and living a happy and peaceful life,” one person said on Weibo.
From 1978 to the end of 2021, China sent 8 million students abroad, and 5.5 million returned home after graduation.
The unemployment rate for people aged 16 to 24 has reached an all-time high, and the number of returning students (so-called returnees) is increasing. Gray guineamore and more people feel that their degree is no longer an advantage for job seekers.
More parents on mainland social media say they are refusing wrinkles parenting style.
One mother said on social media platform Xiaohongshu that her elementary school son “lost the sparkle in his eyes after I forced him to study.”Resigned wrinkles. I let my kids be themselves. ”
