Fu Qiang and Li Wenwen live with their two sons in a community situated between Guangzhou and Foshan, both cities in south China's Guangdong Province. Fu and Li met on campus when they were students at Guangxi University (in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region). They have long conducted research, which they have used to boost rural revitalization in Guangdong. Regarding the raising of their family, Fu and Li teach their sons to be friendly with others, and to have loving hearts. 

Walking Same Path 

Fu is vice-dean and a professor with the School of Life Science and Engineering, Foshan University (FOSU), in Guangdong Province. He is also director of an engineering and technology research center (in the province) that specializes in the immunization of livestock and poultry, and also in the prevention and control of diseases in livestock and poultry. In addition, Fu is a member of the experts' committee of a pig industry association in Guangdong.

A disease that affected pigs broke out in many areas of China nearly 10 years ago. The disease affected the reproduction of pigs — it caused sows to miscarry, it left boars sterile, and it also caused the death of many piglets.

Fu established a research team to respond to the situation, and he and his team developed a vaccine to tackle the virus. The team established a network to share information related to the diagnosis and monitoring of the disease. The team also worked with a biopharmaceutical company to develop the vaccine, so the disease could be controlled, and to help farmers reduce their economic losses caused by the disease.

Fu's concentration on research involving life sciences began when he was a university student. He met Li in December 2008, when they were trying to use the same equipment in the laboratory of Guangxi University. Their common interest in research, which would eventually become the special "chemistry," drew them closer together.

Li completed her postgraduate studies, at Guangxi University, in 2010. At that time, Fu was working toward his Ph.D. at Sun Yat-sen University, in Guangzhou (capital of Guangdong Province). To stay close to Fu, so she could support him in his studies, Li moved to Guangzhou. She was employed by the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University.

Fu says he and his wife have long been walking the same path. They sometimes conduct the same types of experiments. If he needs to work on weekends, Li often accompanies him, so she can support his research. 

Mutual Understanding

Fu and Li got married in 2012. They are deep in love, and they fully understand the importance of each other's career. The couple established their home in a community between Guangzhou and Foshan. They travel a similar distance from their home to their respective worksites. Their oldest son was born in 2015, and their youngest in 2019. As Fu generally has more research projects on the go than does Li, Li tends to shoulder more of the home-based responsibilities.

Both Fu and Li pay attention to the family education they provide their sons. They have been helping their children cultivate good manners, and they have been encouraging their sons to do small and kind deeds.

For example, they encourage their sons to remove advertisement posters pasted randomly on walls of residential buildings in their community. They help their children move shared bicycles, which are not parked properly, to regular parking areas. Given the positive influence of their parents, the boys have received several awards — for their kind deeds — from their schools. 

Self-Improvement

During the past decade, Fu has presided over the development of 10-plus programs supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China. He has also had more than 30 papers published under the Science Citation Index (SCI). He participated in the establishment of an engineering and technology research center that specializes in the immunization of livestock and poultry, and in the prevention and control of diseases in livestock and poultry. He has done his part to advance the rural revitalization of his province, and also to help create wealth for farmers in Guangdong.

Li, meanwhile, has taken the lead or participated in seven scientific-research programs, at either the national or provincial level. She has also had more than 20 papers published.

Fu and Li's family was selected a National Most Beautiful Family in May 2023. The couple considers that to be an honor, and a source of encouragement, for their family. Fu and Li hope their sons will participate in more public-welfare activities. They vow their family will give full play to its role as a "most beautiful family," by leading the younger generation in performing good deeds for society. 

Photos from Interviewees

Source: Department of Family and Children's Affairs of the ACWF

(Women of China English Monthly May 2024)

Editor: Wang Shasha