Pains and gains of running into celebrity figures

I have seen some famous people. But as a self-respecting young woman, I never let celebrity presence overwhelm me. At the Shin Kong Place, a big shopping mall in Beijing, I've run into a dozen pop stars - of varying degrees of glamour. While I walk by them with head held high, I can't help sigh later that singer Faye Wong's legs are twice the length of mine; or film star Zhang Jingchu's face is half the size of mine.

However, if my role models appear before me, I do show them the utmost respect, although aphasia often seizes me, leaving me with only the ability to stammer badly.

Back in university, I was shopping at the Carrefour with a classmate when we spotted Su Tong, a famous writer. My classmate was excited and suggested we should approach the writer and discuss his latest novel with him.

But the writer was at the cashier and had piled into his cart two roasted ducks and an enormous pig trotter. Neither of us knew how to discuss literature in front of meat. So we had to give up.

Another time, Li Yinhe, a pioneering researcher of sexology, gave a speech at our university. My roommate and I joked that we should tell her that if her poet/writer husband Wang Xiaobo didn't die in 1997, we might have a chance to grab her handsome man. However, we came to the conclusion that Li was twice our size. We didn't stand a chance in a fight. So we had to forget the joke.

I've seen more famous people after graduating. At a painting exhibition, I saw painter Fang Cheng. In his 90s then, he was almost pushed by the curator to the podium to give a speech. But he exclaimed that he had never been a leader or made a speech, and marched away with great agility.