Women in Power

While many women spend their whole lives searching for the perfect husband while regarding marriage as their ultimate goal, there are some who simply refuse to give in to the traditional ideology. Instead, they dedicate their lives to their career, dreams, beliefs and their friends.

In Shanghai, I am fortunate enough to meet a few of them. At the dining table on Monday night sit five women who I consider powerful in their unique ways. Toi is a famous art director from Hong Kong; Bai Jie is a well-known TV producer; Jessie is a Harvard MBA graduate who has met the US President and visited Africa several times on business; Karen is a promising young woman with strong characters and an appetite to eat people for lunch; YiJia is a Shanghainese with amiable personalities. Although they might be different in characters, backgrounds and expertise, they all possess the quality of powerful women - smart, opinionated, rich, successful and independent.

Most of them come from prestigious families, which support them with the best education and exposure. They dine at the expensive restaurants and their family's owned properties are scattered around the world. I was dazzled by their generous spending, their exquisite taste and their air of confidence. But contradicting my impression of being self-absorbed and unreachable, they are surprisingly down-to-earth and considerate, despite all the wealth they possess. Although most of them are in their forties, they possess vibrant energy while making dirty jokes and funny stories. Some of them are the silliest persons I've ever met. It is a bliss to be around them.