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Finnish woman embraces the new and makes most of life in China
By Hu Min |
December 30, 2011, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
LAURA Vuorenrinne has adapted to life in China so well that she is known as a "Chinese buff."
Not that the native of Espoo, Finland, minds. She has learned Chinese painting and calligraphy, reads Laozi's "Daodejing" ("Tao Te Ching"), enjoys Chinese opera and speaks Mandarin.
In the mid 1990s Vuorenrinne studied xieyi paintings (freehand brushwork in traditional Chinese painting) at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing and stayed in the capital for about five years. In 2002, she moved to Suzhou to establish L-Fashion Group's (one of the biggest clothing companies in Scandinavia) subsidiary, L-Fashion Suzhou Co Ltd.
She says she became interested in Chinese opera after watching director Chen Kaige's famous movie "Farewell My Concubine," which tells the story of two stars in a Peking Opera troupe.
"It made a very deep impression on me," Vuorenrinne says.
She saw the film when she lived in Finland.
She is also fascinated with Kunqu Opera because she loves the music and the costumes. The Kunqu Opera Museum is her favorite place in Suzhou.
Beautiful night
Vuorenrinne and her husband Khalid Hafeez organized a private dinner party at the museum a few years ago and about 30 friends were invited.
The food was Western, but the performance on the old stage outdoors was Eastern. Therefore, she described it as an "East meets West" event. She still remembers the bright moon, the blue sky and beautiful night that day.
"It is a beautiful place because it has not been renovated. It has the original feeling and atmosphere, which is rare," she says.
She considers Suzhou a city filled with big contrasts because it retains its ancient charm yet has a modern side as well.
For Vuorenrinne, the music of Kunqu Opera is challenging, different from Western songs, which adds to its charm.
"I believe people can enjoy things they don't literally understand, just enjoying the beauty of the art," she says.
She says she is planning to organize another event at the museum in the near future.
Vuorenrinne has a son and a daughter, who both speak Finnish, English and Chinese. Their father is a Pakistan-born Finn. He speaks English to them, while Vuorenrinne speaks Finnish and the family's ayi speaks Chinese to the kids. The children can communicate equally well in all three languages. Raising third-culture kids is very interesting and challenging but also rewarding, Vuorenrinne says.
Vuorenrinne also believes in traditional Chinese medicine. Since 2004, the family has visited a TCM massage doctor, who is about 70 years old. The doctor still works for the family now. TCM balances the body functions, she says.
Vuorenrinne rented a 21-square-meter office in Suzhou as the representative office of the company in 2002 and she was the only company employee in China at that time.
Now, L-Fashion has two branches at Suzhou Industrial Park with more than 600 staff members. She is the deputy general manager and is responsible for product development. Her husband is the general manager of both Suzhou-based companies.
Suzhou Industrial Park authorities are supportive and helpful, Vuorenrinne says.
She says the company chose Suzhou because it is more cost-efficient and a good place for starting a business. The suppliers are also located nearby.
Establishing the company was a challenging task, but she says she always stayed optimistic.
"I won't use the word 'difficult,' but 'challenging.' It all depends on how you see the situation," she says.
She says she has learned from Chinese that "everything is possible, and there is always a way," which she thinks makes the country special.
In some ways, Vuorenrinne says she is like a "diplomat in different cultures, making Finnish understand the challenges here, while making Chinese employees understand the reasons behind the decisions of the Finnish side."
Vuorenrinne even understands some Suzhou dialect. She can also write some Chinese. She even has some of her own calligraphy works.
"I don't consider myself a foreigner completely as I am able to speak Chinese, which opens a way to understand the people and culture better and deeper," she says.
At the same time, she still views herself as a guest in the city and country. She respects people and learns from them.
Her interest in Chinese culture extends to the food.
The Finn can cook some dishes like Kung Pao Chicken (spicy diced chicken with peanuts), a classic dish in Sichuan cuisine. When she returns to Finland, she cooks it for her mother, because it is her favorite, she says with a smile.
Vuorenrinne says she picked up her motto from the "Daodejing." One sentence reads: "Deal with the difficult while it is yet easy; and deal with the great while it is yet small. The difficult develops naturally from the easy, and the great from the small; so the sage, by dealing with the small, achieves the great."
"I use this to motivate myself in my work," she says.
She says she fell in lovewith Chinese characters and philosophy; which is linked totraditional paintings.
Not that the native of Espoo, Finland, minds. She has learned Chinese painting and calligraphy, reads Laozi's "Daodejing" ("Tao Te Ching"), enjoys Chinese opera and speaks Mandarin.
In the mid 1990s Vuorenrinne studied xieyi paintings (freehand brushwork in traditional Chinese painting) at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing and stayed in the capital for about five years. In 2002, she moved to Suzhou to establish L-Fashion Group's (one of the biggest clothing companies in Scandinavia) subsidiary, L-Fashion Suzhou Co Ltd.
She says she became interested in Chinese opera after watching director Chen Kaige's famous movie "Farewell My Concubine," which tells the story of two stars in a Peking Opera troupe.
"It made a very deep impression on me," Vuorenrinne says.
She saw the film when she lived in Finland.
She is also fascinated with Kunqu Opera because she loves the music and the costumes. The Kunqu Opera Museum is her favorite place in Suzhou.
Beautiful night
Vuorenrinne and her husband Khalid Hafeez organized a private dinner party at the museum a few years ago and about 30 friends were invited.
The food was Western, but the performance on the old stage outdoors was Eastern. Therefore, she described it as an "East meets West" event. She still remembers the bright moon, the blue sky and beautiful night that day.
"It is a beautiful place because it has not been renovated. It has the original feeling and atmosphere, which is rare," she says.
She considers Suzhou a city filled with big contrasts because it retains its ancient charm yet has a modern side as well.
For Vuorenrinne, the music of Kunqu Opera is challenging, different from Western songs, which adds to its charm.
"I believe people can enjoy things they don't literally understand, just enjoying the beauty of the art," she says.
She says she is planning to organize another event at the museum in the near future.
Vuorenrinne has a son and a daughter, who both speak Finnish, English and Chinese. Their father is a Pakistan-born Finn. He speaks English to them, while Vuorenrinne speaks Finnish and the family's ayi speaks Chinese to the kids. The children can communicate equally well in all three languages. Raising third-culture kids is very interesting and challenging but also rewarding, Vuorenrinne says.
Vuorenrinne also believes in traditional Chinese medicine. Since 2004, the family has visited a TCM massage doctor, who is about 70 years old. The doctor still works for the family now. TCM balances the body functions, she says.
Vuorenrinne rented a 21-square-meter office in Suzhou as the representative office of the company in 2002 and she was the only company employee in China at that time.
Now, L-Fashion has two branches at Suzhou Industrial Park with more than 600 staff members. She is the deputy general manager and is responsible for product development. Her husband is the general manager of both Suzhou-based companies.
Suzhou Industrial Park authorities are supportive and helpful, Vuorenrinne says.
She says the company chose Suzhou because it is more cost-efficient and a good place for starting a business. The suppliers are also located nearby.
Establishing the company was a challenging task, but she says she always stayed optimistic.
"I won't use the word 'difficult,' but 'challenging.' It all depends on how you see the situation," she says.
She says she has learned from Chinese that "everything is possible, and there is always a way," which she thinks makes the country special.
In some ways, Vuorenrinne says she is like a "diplomat in different cultures, making Finnish understand the challenges here, while making Chinese employees understand the reasons behind the decisions of the Finnish side."
Vuorenrinne even understands some Suzhou dialect. She can also write some Chinese. She even has some of her own calligraphy works.
"I don't consider myself a foreigner completely as I am able to speak Chinese, which opens a way to understand the people and culture better and deeper," she says.
At the same time, she still views herself as a guest in the city and country. She respects people and learns from them.
Her interest in Chinese culture extends to the food.
The Finn can cook some dishes like Kung Pao Chicken (spicy diced chicken with peanuts), a classic dish in Sichuan cuisine. When she returns to Finland, she cooks it for her mother, because it is her favorite, she says with a smile.
Vuorenrinne says she picked up her motto from the "Daodejing." One sentence reads: "Deal with the difficult while it is yet easy; and deal with the great while it is yet small. The difficult develops naturally from the easy, and the great from the small; so the sage, by dealing with the small, achieves the great."
"I use this to motivate myself in my work," she says.
She says she fell in lovewith Chinese characters and philosophy; which is linked totraditional paintings.
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