When I was growing up, I was very lucky to be the neighbour of the best guzheng teacher in my city [Lanzhou in China’s Gansu province]. She was the professor of this instrument at the university. I heard her playing the guzheng, which has a very beautiful, natural sound. Also, my teacher was a very beautiful woman. When I was really young, it felt like a fairytale-princess thing to play this elegant instrument, which has a 2,500-year history.

Mindy Meng Wang. Photo © Panzi Studio

When I was in high school, I got a special offer a year ahead of everyone else to study at two really good conservatories. So, in my final year of high school, when everyone was pushing to get a good mark for university, I already had an offer. My father was working in the university, and they had some exchange programs with some UK schools, so he said, “Instead of wasting time here, why don’t you go and learn some English and have a different kind of experience?” They shouldn’t have let me taste freedom! When I was there, I thought, “OK, I’m not going back!”

A good child in...