Hu Yanran: Stay True to Yourself and Accomplishment will Follow

By Xu Kuang

Hu Yanran: Stay True to Yourself and Accomplishment will Follow

By Xu Kuang

At an art gallery in Wuhan Horizon Shopping Mall, a visual digital performance named Van Gogh Alive is being held. Over 3,000 pieces of Van Gogh’s works were brought to the audiences by means of high-resolution motion picture technologies, accompanied by the symphonic music, the interactive phonetic narrations, and the huge LED screen, which vividly brought back Van Gogh’s simple but brilliant life.

“When I draw a picture of the sun, I hope people can feel the light and heat of its alarming rotation. When I draw a picture of a wheat field, I hope people can feel the growth of the wheat in its striving towards blooming and maturing,” said Von Gogh. The exhibition fully brings the audience into Van Gogh’s world through the application of the high-tech image technology.

“I want to become an ambassador of culture who introduces the western arts into China and vice versa. This exhibition of Van Gogh in Wuhan was my first debut of art activity. The success has provided me more confidence in promoting cultural exchanges between China and the world,” said Hu Yanran, the sponsor of the exhibition and also the deputy director of Wuhan Cultural and Creative Association, to Special Focus reporter Xu Kuang.

A Sweet and Smiling Lady as her

Now, Hu Yanran is the executive general manager of Wuhan Jinyinhu International Golf Industry Development Co., Ltd.

Yanran came to the interview hurriedly after finishing a working conference. She wore a darkcolored dress with a bright diagonal wollen jacket. Her hair was kept to her shoulder, and her make-up delicate. Even though she was clearly pregnant, she portrayed not a single trace of tiredness despite the fact that she would have to fly to Hong Kong later that day for the infanticipation. She said she’d still work 10 hours a day if her healthy conditions allowed her.

The interview took place in the café of the Jinyinhu Golf Club. It was surrounded by nice and cozy environment with full-view windows, which allow glimpsing the trees and the lake outside. “I designed the café myself. I design the full-view windows here for enjoying the beautiful views outside,” gestured Hu Yanran. It seems that attention to details and perfectionism were her priorities.

Hu Yanran was born into a family of intellectuals. Her father worked in media industry and her mother was a judge in court. Growing up in such good family environment, she aspired to become a media professional with an international mind. So, she decided to apply for U.S. universities and was fortunately admitted to Rutgers University. At that moment, the approval of visa application to America was low because of 911 terrorist attacks. Her parents were worried if she were to be rejected, she would have trouble going overseas in the future. Hu Yanran was confident, “If there is only one person getting a visa today, it will be me.”

The visa officer asked her why she chose to study media. She replied with confidence, “I want to connect China and the West, to bring new ideas to China and introduce the traditional Chinese culture to the outside world.”

Her answer left a deep impression upon the visa officer and she was given the visa. In 2012, Hu Yanran obtained her two bachelor’s degrees in media and sociology.

After graduation, she was faced with the choice of either continuing her education with a master degree or joining workforce. To Hu Yanran, the easier choice was to continue her study. But she chose to work. She believed that school was the ivory tower. Only work could tell her what she really wanted.

But her media career didn’t go well. She realized that U.S. media needed opening up and learned to be inclusive. “I didn’t feel included working there. The ideology was different. It was difficult for a Chinese citizen to be accepted by western mainstream media.”

Hu Yanran then moved to a job in Public Relations Department in a large Chinese hotel and real estate company. In three years, she was promoted to manager and secured the“green card” helped by the company.

Life became peaceful and comfortable. However, Hu Yanran could predict what she will be in the following 50 years. “I started to become restless.” She said. After working in New York for three years, she recalled what she once said to the visa officer about what she aimed to become at the age of 17, that is, a cultural ambassador.

She decided to say goodbye to the stable life in America and returned back to Wuhan, her hometown.“Wuhan is a city full of cultural connotations and I am committed to introducing Chu culture to the outside world.”

Indulging Herself into Sports Industry

After returning to China in 2014, Hu Yanran was admitted to Wuhan TV Station with a high score, and was offered a job as a producer and anchor for the news channel. In Wuhan, she found the inclusiveness and openness she had searched for.

Hu Yanran invested herself in her new TV career. She preferred people to call her an anchor instead of a newscaster, as she believed that an anchor could best show her individuality and personality.

Her parents graduated respectively from Huazhong University of Science and Technology and Wuhan University, which are prestigious universities in China. “Their marriage is a perfect match, very romantic.”Hu Yanran wished that she could also have such a pure and romantic love as her parents some day.

Hu Yanran met her husband Li Tianwei at work. They both had the experience of studying abroad, developed a passion for literature, and had a strong commitment to the pursuit of their careers. Only in five months had they made life promises to each other. “Choose a city to live, and a person to spend your whole life with” was how she described their love.

Li Tianwei graduated from University of South California and returned to China to join his family business with the aim of expanding it. After their marriage, Hu Yanran also joined this business—the Jinyinhu Golf Club.

Nowadays most people still held certain misconceptions about sports, namely, sports and culture are two independent fields. However, she maintained. “The core of sports is culture and sports can best represent one’s mentality and spirituality. Therefore both should be integrated rather than seperated. What I want to do is to promote our traditional sportive culture in the sports arena.”

In 2016, golf returned back into the Summer Olympics after more than a century’s absence. At the end of 2016, Hu Yanran and her team successfully won the rights to hold the World Amateur Golf Championship and National Teenagers Golf Championship.

The four English letters of the word golf stand respectively for Green, Oxygen, Light, and Friendship, which is consistent with the principle of “Integrity, Self-discipline, and Be considerate” advocated by WAGC. “Golf game in China was once regarded as a sport only for the noblemen. However, the nobility of the game lies in its spirit, not the game itself,,” said Hu Yanran. “We’re falling behind in the game not in the hardware in which we can invest; nor in culture which we can perhaps catch up with, but on age gaps. It means that golf is not only served merely as a social tool, but a sport that is enjoyed by all age groups through one’s life.”

With it in mind, Hu Yanran devoted herself to the training of the young golf players in Wuhan. Supported by her family, she initiated a golf summer camp. She was thrilled to find that most children developed their interest in golf after attending the camp. As a result, with the helps from all sides, Hubei Youth Golf Training Center was established in her club in March, 2017.

Golf game is considered as an exotic game. However, Hu Yanran believes that holding international golf game is a good platform to promote Chinese cultures. In all 2017 games sponsored by WAGC, she had the idea to decorate the golf field with Chinese or Wuhan cultural elements.“for example, marking the flags with something that shows local Chu culture.”

Culture is the Natural Overflow of Her Mind

Hu Yanran’s dream of being a cultural ambassador is, to some extent, a best reflection of her own experience.

She never forgot her dream. In 2016, Hu Yanran set up Feibulingyun Cultural and Creative Co., Ltd to engage in the international intellectual property exhibitions in Wuhan. She was determined to provide Wuhaneses the opportunity to witness international cultural exhibitions and planned to manifest Wuhan culture abroad in the future.

“I’m really delighted to have brought Van Gogh to Wuhan and I am grateful that it’s well recognized and welcomed. It’s a joyful thing to find people with similar artistic tastes.”

Hu Yanran met many challenges when she organized the exhibition. The office in Shanghai once questioned directly whether people in Wuhan could appreciate it or not. Encountering such doubts, she replied, “ as a Wuhanese, I am really fond of this exhibition. I have the obligation to bring it to Wuhan. Wuhan is an open and inclusive cosmopolitan city and people here are inclined to appreciate fine arts.”

Hu Yanran was delighted that she made the right decision. Although it was incomparable to the 400,000 audiences in Shanghai, Van Gogh’s exhibition received fairly good sales and public attention in Wuhan. Hu Yanran herself was named one of the Ten Wuhan Cultural and Creative Pioneers in 2016, and the Van Gogh Alive was listed one of the Top-Ten Annual Events. The initial success convinced Hu Yanran of Wuhaneses’recognition and interests in cultural events, which further motivated her to continue performing her duty of bringing international cultures to Wuhan. After this exhibition, she continued to collaborate with Shanghai Gaoting Cultural and Art Co., Ltd to demonstrate a Hans Christian Andersen Exhibition to Wuhan.

“The Andersen show was another international exhibition. Andersen and his fairy tales influenced us for three generations. He is even more widely accepted than Van Gogh in China.”

Hermann Hesse, the winner of Nobel Prize in Literature in 1946, once said, in a society rich in history and highly privatized, culture should be diversified. During the interview, Hu Yanran overstressed the necessity of globalization, “I will feel regretful if couldn’t bring Wuhan’s splendid and colorful cultures to the outside world.”

Hu Yanran spent 8 years in the U.S.. What she enjoyed most there was not the material life, but the culture of having the courage to say no. In her life, she could have chosen a more comfortable life at several crucial moments, but she went against it every time. She is a person who is likely to welcome challenges by nature.

In the wake of globalization, it is quite natural for Chinese and Western cultures to be deeply intertwined with each other. As a saying goes, the future belongs to youth. Hu Yanran is one of the young elites in Wuhan and we can assume more young faces as her are the best representatives of China’s bright future.

(Translated: Zhang Lei)

武汉天地壹方购物中心艺术展厅，“不朽的梵高”感映艺术大展，3000多幅高清动态画面，伴随着宏伟的交响乐和语音解说，巨大的LED屏幕“复活”了艺术家梵高短暂而璀璨的一生。

“当我画一个太阳，我希望人们感觉它在以惊人的速度旋转，正在发出骇人的光热巨浪。当我画一片麦田，我希望人们感觉到麦子正朝着它们最后的成熟和绽放努力……”梵高说。这场感映大展运用科技影像技术，让观众感受到梵高作品的生命力。

“我希望做中外文化交流使者，将国外的艺术作品引进武汉，同时也把中国传统文化推向世界。享誉世界的梵高，是我引进的第一个主题展。展览的成功，让我对今后推进中外文化交流更有信心。”引进方负责人武汉文创协会副会长胡嫣然告诉Special Focus的记者。

有女嫣然

胡嫣然的另一个身份，是武汉金银湖国际高尔夫实业发展有限公司执行总经理。

见到记者时，胡嫣然刚结束一场会议，深色连衣裙，浅色斜纹软呢外套，披肩长发，妆容精致，看不出一丝疲惫。尽管马上要去香港待产，她说在身体条件允许的情况下，每天依然工作10个小时。

采访地点在金银湖高尔夫球场的餐厅里，环境雅致舒适，落地窗前，风细柳斜，碧水如玉。“这个餐厅是我亲自设计，要有一面大大的落地窗，窗外景色尽揽眼底。”胡嫣然比划着说。看得出她注重细节，追求完美和个性。

胡嫣然出生于一个传统知识分子家庭，父亲是媒体人，母亲是一名法官。耳濡目染，胡嫣然希望带着国际视野做传媒，跟家人商量之后，她申请美国的大学，收到美国罗格斯大学录取通知书。“9·11”结束后很长一段时间，美国拒签率很高，父母担心她被拒签影响以后出国。“就算今天大使馆只签过一个人，那个人也一定是我。”胡嫣然志在必得。

签证官问她为什么选择读传媒，她自信地说：“我想成为中外文化交流的纽带，希望把国外的开放理念带回国内，也希望把中国的传统文化带到美国。”

胡嫣然的回答让签证官耳目一新，签证顺利通过。2012年，胡嫣然作为荣誉毕业生，获得媒体和社会学双学士学位。

大学毕业，面临两条路，读研和工作。读研对于胡嫣然来说，似乎是一个更为轻松的选择。但她选择了工作，她认为学校是象牙塔，只有工作了才知道自己真正想要的是什么。

但她的媒体之路并不顺利，她意识到，美国媒体也在开放中，还在学习包容，“最起码对我的包容性不够，意识形态不同，华人打入西方主流媒体很难。”

胡嫣然转战纽约一家大型华人酒店房地产，负责媒体公关。三年时间，她做到主管，公司还帮她申请了绿卡。

生活安逸，胡嫣然似乎看到50年后的自己。“我又开始作了。”在纽约工作三年后，她想到自己17岁时跟签证官说过，要做一个文化使者。

她选择放弃现有的稳定生活，回到家乡。“武汉有很深的文化底蕴，我要把楚文化带向全世界。”

体育文化阵地

2014年，胡嫣然回国，以编导专业第一名成绩考入武汉电视台，任新闻频道制片人与主持人，她认为是武汉的包容和开阔接纳了她。

在电视台工作的胡嫣然，一如往常，全力以赴。比起“主播”的称呼，她更愿意被称为主持人，她认为主持人更能展现一个人的思想和个性。

父母分别毕业于华中科技大学和武汉大学，“他们是典型的华工男和武大女的结合，很浪漫。”胡嫣然希望自己也能拥有父辈那种既古典又浪漫的爱情。

胡嫣然在工作中结识先生李添潍，共同的留学经历，对文学的爱好，对事业的追求，短短五个月，他们认定彼此就是想要牵手一生的人。“择一城终老，遇一人白首。”胡嫣然觉得这是他们的爱情写照。

李添潍南加州大学毕业以后，回到家族企业，为的是把父辈留下的疆土开拓得更加完美。婚后，胡嫣然也加入共同打理家族企业金银湖高尔夫球场。

她认为，大众对体育有一个误区，认为体育和文化是两个不同领域，“体育的内核是文化，体育是精神文化的体现，体育和文化要融合在一起，我希望通过体育阵地输出我们的传统文化。”

2016年，时隔百年，高尔夫再次被列入奥运项目。同年底，胡嫣然带领团队成功签约“WAGC世界业余高尔夫锦标赛”和“全国青少年高尔夫球锦标赛”。

Golf四个字母，G代表green（绿色），O代表oxygen（氧气），L代表light（阳光），F代表friendship（友谊），这跟WAGC提倡的“诚信、自律、为他人着想”一脉相承。“高尔夫在国内被称为贵族运动，其实它的贵族在精神，而不是物质。”胡嫣然说，“我们跟国外的差别不是硬件，硬件可以投资；也不是文化，文化可以赶超。最大的差别在于年龄上的断层，高尔夫不仅仅是一个社交工具，他更应该是一个不断层、受益一生的体育运动。”

认识到这一点，胡嫣然将目光放在青少年高尔夫这一块空白上。在家族的支持下，她自己开办高尔夫夏令营。让她感动的是，所有孩子学完后，都表示喜欢高尔夫。多方努力下，2017年3月，湖北省高尔夫青少年培训基地在这里独家挂牌。

胡嫣然认为，高尔夫是舶来品，可以将国际赛事成为输出中国文化的阵地，在2017年WAGC赛事中，她想将金银湖高尔夫球场打造成一个有中国特色或者说是有楚韵特色的国际球场，“比如每一个球洞旗杆都标上一个楚韵文化的标志。”

文化写就心声

胡嫣然所致力的文化“引进来”和“走出去”，某种程度上，与她的个人经历相呼应。

胡嫣然一直没有忘记自己要做中外文化交流使者的承诺。2016年，胡嫣然成立飞步凌云文化创意有限公司，她想通过文化公司这个载体，将国际IP(intellectual property)展引进武汉，让武汉市民在家门口看到国际IP展，她希望某一天，还能带领武汉本土文化走出去。

“很高兴能把梵高展引进武汉，也特别感激大家的认可和喜欢，贵在落地有知音。”

在策划阶段，胡嫣然也遇到过质疑。上海主办方直接发问：“武汉看得懂吗？”面对质疑自己家乡的人，她说：“作为武汉人，我喜欢这个展，我有这个权利和义务把她带到武汉，武汉也有阳春白雪，是一个开放包容的现代化国际大都市。”

胡嫣然很庆幸，她的判断没有错，也许比不上上海40万人次的轰动效应，但是梵高展在武汉最终的票房和口碑都很不错，胡嫣然也获得“武汉2016文创十大先锋人物”，“不朽的梵高”感映艺术大展获评“十大典型事件”。这个结果让胡嫣然看到武汉对文化IP和对文化市场的认可和需求，也让她更加振奋和觉醒，想要担负起把好的国际文化带到武汉的重任。她再接再厉，继续跟上海高庭文化艺术有限公司合作，引进《了不起的安徒生》经典童话展。

“安徒生展同样是一个国际化的展览，童话故事是一个温暖的IP，是每个人都无法割舍的美好。安徒生影响了三代人，他的受众群体会比梵高更宽更广。”

诺贝尔文学奖获得者黑塞说，在这富有历史背景、富有高度私人秘密性的社会，人类的文化应是多彩多姿的。采访中，胡嫣然一直强调国际化，“如果不能把武汉高山流水遇知音这种文化带出去，会是一种遗憾。”

在美国生活八年，胡嫣然更享受的不是物质生活，而是美国文化中勇于说“不”勇于突破的精神。在她人生的成长轨迹中，每一个节点她都可以选择更为安逸的道路，而每一次她都反其道行之，她骨子里是一个享受挑战勇于拼搏的人。

在全球化背景下，中西文化的深度交融，年轻人是希望所在。胡嫣然是中国武汉有代表性的年轻精英，从她身上，看到了朝气蓬勃的未来。

不忘初心 方得始终

文|许旷