Wǒ Men Podcast: I Changed My Name Because of a Chinese Fortune Teller

11/02/18 • 48 min

What’s in a name? For Annie Huang, potentially a new lease of life.

Annie recently changed her Chinese given name from Yating (雅婷) to Yiling (奕绫) based on the instruction of a part-time fortune telling master (who incidentally holds a full-time job as a private equity investor). Even though Annie has a well paid and highly regarded job and is in a loving marriage, she was bothered that this may not be what she wants and felt confused as to where her life was going. A new name, the theory goes, could potentially free her mind and soul and allow her to be a “free horse” (she is born in the year of the horse) to pursue what she wants.

She is not alone. Many Chinese seek comfort and assurance from fortune telling masters, who don’t only serve as a kind of prophet, but also to some extent play the role of psychologist. Amid the myriad pressures of modern life, many Chinese are turning back to traditional superstitions and beliefs, and fortune telling and Fengshui businesses have boomed over the past decade.

In today’s episode, Annie talks about her name changing experience and how it has fed into a process of self-discovery.

What’s in a name? For Annie Huang, potentially a new lease of life.

In today’s episode, Annie talks about her name changing experience and how it has fed into a process of self-discovery.

Previous Episode

Wǒ Men Podcast: Prison Breaker

The Wǒ Men podcast is a bi-weekly discussion of life in China hosted by Yajun Zhang and Jingjing Zhang.Previous episodes of the Wǒ Men podcast can be found here, and y ou can find Wǒ Men on iTunes here.

Like millions of Chinese students, Yang Yi took the opportunity to study abroad and explored her future in New Zealand years ago. However, rather than choosing a career which may provide more lucrative financial returns, such as law, economics or finance, she decided to take a bumpier but rewarding road to “make the world a better place” by becoming a prison psychologist in New Zealand.

As an Asian female psychologist who just graduated from college, she had no idea what was waiting for her in prison in a foreign country. She was whistled at and intimidated by inmates. She was also questioned and challenged. However, she managed to overcome all the fears and difficulties and eventually win the trust of the inmates who later benefited from her sessions.

In this episode, Yang Yi discusses her extraordinary experiences and why she continues to be an idealist.

Have thoughts or feedback to share? Want to join the discussion? Write to Yajun and Jingjing at [email protected].

Next Episode

Wǒ Men Podcast: Buy, Buy, Buy

11.11, also known as Singles’ Day, is a relatively new holiday. Originally founded to celebrate single life in the face of huge societal pressure to marry, the holiday has evolved over the years. Today, Singles’ Day is better recognized as the world’s biggest online shopping festival.

Alibaba, China’s biggest e-commerce company and originator of the Singles’ Day shopping phenomenon, achieved sales of over $25 billion in 2017 — it continues to smash its own record each year.

Outside of e-commerce, the consumerist energy of Singles’ Day trickles down from Taobao and Tmall, driving derivative businesses such as influencer marketing and offline retail.

Jingjing and Yajun talk about the fascinating buy, buy, buy culture behind the holiday. Let’s take a look at what’s in their shopping cart.