Reborn

Dressed in a black Chinese coat, with her straight hair tightly bound up, Wu Shihong, once China's "most famous businesswoman" is in-person, less like a boardroom wonder woman and more like a highly conversant neighborhood girl.

During a more than one-hour interview with China Business Weekly, Wu keeps a calm smile on her face. But it is still easy to gauge tiny changes as she talks about different topics.

When addressing her past time as a nurse, a manager at corporate giants Intel, IBM and TCL, she is matter of fact and seemed almost like a mentor or elder. When talking about her new mission to become a social entrepreneur, she is hopeful and full of enthusiasm. However, when talking about her life during the last five-years, something more exciting lights up her face, a childish smile.

Wu's post-corporate passions have also extended to cooking and playing the piano several hours a day.

"My five-year 'rest' has seen me reexamine my life," Wu says.

In a typical day during her long hiatus, Wu says she played piano every morning, learned to cook, and, most of all, reading books every afternoon.

"It was a luxurious period. It is hard for people who are my age to spend such a long time reading books," she says.

Her relaxed reading regimen included history books, classics, Buddhism and the Bible and books about philanthropy that fueled her translating career and current passion to be a social entrepreneur.

"I benefit from getting the true meaning of a book, a person, and a kind of life experience, which has made me much calmer and more thoughtful," Wu tells China Business Weekly.

"I used to be seen as a businesswoman who struggled in the business world with men, and who has had so many ups and downs in my past life. That made it difficult for me to consider the true meaning of my life," Wu says.

But now, she says she knows what life and happiness are, and what her priorities are in the future.

Wu says she gained a lot as a high flying 17-year (1985-2002) career as businesswoman - fame and wealth, as well the need to remain serious and cautious. "It is good and important for me, both as a businesswoman and as a social entrepreneur."

As such, she avoids specifics about her dream of helping needy people in the future. "My period of reading has let me know that it is always better to do than to say," Wu says.

(China Daily 11/17/2008 page12)