Jenny Wu/Shanghai Daily news

Despite dropping out of school as a teenager, Gu Yurun has accomplished more than most of us ever will.
The 40-year-old owns a TV and film studio, plus she writes essays for newspaper Jinshan Bao and she even started a small toy factory, which she has since shut down.
She bounced around in many different areas and was so busy that her parents often worried about her personal life.
"My parents told me nobody dared to marry me because of my strange mind and behavior," she laughs. "But look at my family now, I am so happy with a beloved husband and a lovely daughter."
Her sense of humor and approachable language have created a strong following of readers, according to Jiang Weilin, a Jinshan District public relations official and one of Gu's biggest fans.
Yet few people realize the writer quit school when she was 14. She has received no training in either writing or filmmaking.
She writes based on instinct rather than on standard journalistic style.
She has just published a book called "Xueyuan," which details the true story of a middle-aged woman who donates blood over and over after watching her father saved by a unit of blood at a young age.
"I interviewed the woman without any notebooks or tape recorders," Gu says."But I completed the work within a couple of weeks and remembered everything she said.
"I was deeply touched by her story and wrote every line of the book with the theme of love."
If writing books isn't enough to keep Gu busy, her studio, which she opened in 2003, is preparing a film version of the woman's inspiring life. Gu is in discussions with Xi Meijuan, one of the city's top actresses, to play the role of the kind-hearted blood donor.
Gu is determined to make the story as popular as "Ren Changxia," a highly rated TV series about a brave and kind policewoman who sacrificed her life for her work.
Gu's creative talent was not something she nurtured until she tried other business opportunities and found them unsatisfying.
She says her confidence has put her into trouble regularly while she was a student, a worker in a factory or when she started her own business. At the same time, her willingness to take risks has saved her on several occasions. It has also helped Gu start a new life.
Her creativity and restlessness tortured her when she was younger, she says. Her impatience led her to leave behind a monotonous factory job when she was 20 years old. Gu then was a kindergarten teacher and a community official for a short time. She didn't like either and quit both.
It was about 1990 that Gu started writing for Jinshan Bao. She covers many topics from fitness and lifestyle to fictitious articles.
In 1998, Gu started a toy factory in Jinshan. She had previously sold small trinkets on the street, which gave her the confidence to start the toy company. But, according to Gu, she closed the factory several years later after she was not paid for a big order.
Of the experience, she says, "In my life, I fear nothing and nobody can beat me down," as she bursts into a big-hearted laugh.
Gu says making films has given her a sense of purpose in life that she finds very fulfilling.
So much so it is unlikely Gu will be making any more career changes.
She has sold many of her documentaries, including a program recording the lives of people relocated from the Three Gorges Dam. It was purchased by the Documentary Channel at Shanghai Television Station.
"When I met these people I was moved by their attitude toward life," Gu says.
"No matter how tough life gets, they always believe in the future."