My Life

Mark Chen

Modified 2024-10-02

(For your info only. Much of the information is outdated because the majority of the essay was prepared I don’t know how long ago, and now they are mixed with some updated info. Original texts were mostly in Chinese, and Google translated, with little proof reading, therefore not in good English. Stories are aimed at Chinese audiences close to me, therefore not optimized for non - Chinese people.)

My past life was full of hardships, twists, and turns. I took many detours and wasted precious time. I was filled with regret! I struggled all my life, but in the end, I gained nothing. Now that I am over 60 and in my twilight years, it is necessary to summarize the road I have traveled.

On the other hand, since my mother passed away, my health has been getting worse (I used to be very healthy and paid high attention to exercise), so I need to rest and recuperate.

The ambitious research and writing activities that I had planned were basically abandoned. Even the huge autobiography that I had planned had to be cancelled (I started it more than 20 years ago, wrote hundreds of pages, and then shelved it).

Therefore, this short article is a summary of my life. In addition, for some reasons, some crucial experiences have been omitted.

This article is long, please read only the parts that interest you.

I have an extraordinary career and life path behind me, which has witnessed both tides and ebbs.

I’m a person who has studied, worked, lived and strived very hard and “hard” over the past years for freedom, academic achievement, career success and happy life. There is a long long story about my efforts to realize my plan.

I have sacrificed my own future for others, so that now I am myself in crisis.

I come from a humble family in a small rural town of Zhejiang province, China. But I was able to go to one of the most prestigious universities (top20) in China, and after graduation I was able to work at some of the best organizations, institutions and corporations of the world, acquired six or seven foreign languages, developed a solar industrial web portal called www.solaires.com which won popularity in the industry worldwide and was valued at US$ 15 million by a British investor, acquired wide spectrum of knowledge and experience of power, energy, IT and Internet, aviation and other industries. I was once considered among some of the most privileged people with bright future. I have tried very hard in many fields and with various degrees of success. As a result, I have gained sufficient opportunities towards personal success, whether academic, entrepreneurial, or political.

I went to university at 15, and ranked no 1 in math of our department, and at 20 I could speak 5 foreign languages (English, German, French, Russian, Esperanto and later on I have also learned Greek, Hebrew and Latin) and at 21 I worked at the Chinese Ministry and was able to engage in meetings with ministers and other high level officials about key national development projects (the only young graduate with such honor) and later I won PhD candidacy of several western universities (Paris Uni. etc) and then I worked at some of the major multinationals (Siemens, GE Alstom, etc). I was a recognized PV (photovoltaic)) expert by the US DOE Renewable Energy Labs around 2007. Afterwards I am self-employed, at first I was quite successful particularly in the solar business where I’ve won hundreds of millions of Euro contracts, but over the last decade, the political and business environments have been worsened very much and my monetary status is worsened likewise. And now after more than a decade of zero income I am impoverished and people begin to harm me in one way or other, because in communist China the powerful and rich will humiliate the weak and poor.

I hold a master of engineering degree in thermal science from XXX Univ, Shanghai and was admitted into PhD programs of several well-known universities in the US, UK, Germany, France and Canada (such as Univ. Glasgow, Univ Paris VII etc.).

Afterwards I have worked at major multinational corporations mainly from Germany, France and the U.S. (such as Siemens Heimann, Deutsche Babcock, GE/Alstom etc) as well as several local companies in various functions.

And since 2000 I have been doing my own businesses and undertaking my own studies and researches in various topics. I've been working as a freelancer, an independent entrepreneur over the last 20 years, and I have always been providing my services remotely over the Internet to my clients, many of them are big names such as Bayer, BPSolar, Saint Gobaint, Mannesmann, Braun, Vorwerk, JP Morgan etc. I own the necessary skill sets to deliver my services, such as superb IT and web skills, superior language skills, reliability, punctuality and professionalism.

As a long-time experienced consultant, engineer and senior manager, I have acquired rich knowledge and expertise in a variety of areas: senior management, procurement (worth hundreds of millions of US Dollars), marketing (with a market value of dozens of billions of US Dollars), quality management, design and engineering, trading, public administration etc, in multinational corporations, in engineering firms, in design institute, and in government authorities of China, ranging from the conventional power, hydropower, nuclear power, solar and other renewable energies, electronics industry, certification and quality accreditation, IT, and several others. Obviously my career path was painted with bountiful colors and success.

I have been one of the busiest guys in the world over the last years, chasing after my 7 languages (Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Fr, De, Ru, and your English of course), taking care of my parents – the greatest father and mother in the human history ever since human was evolved from monkeys millions of years ago in Africa, researching and studying science to advance myself onto top 50 best scholars of the world, trying the hardest to earn a little money for the survival in China and finally running all over the mountains in cities of my dwelling to become one of the healthiest guys in the city. The story has not yet ended and more are to come in this site...

I have never stopped learning a single day even at time of heavy workload and as a result my knowledge base is being expanding day by day. For example, my language skill is still improving: while at the age of 20 I was already in good command of English, German, Russian and French, I am still venturing into new culture which added new languages - Greek, Latin and Hebrew to my skill list.

For my spare time I am doing researches of varying topics ranging from thermodynamics, solar physics, solar radiation, cryptography and mathematics.

Regardless of the hardship over the past years, and considering the fact that I am over 60, I am still able to maintain my optimistic view and enjoy my life.  I am still looking very young – from my outer appearance I am like a graduate student with even younger mentality.  People say I look like a shining boy and seem to never have met with troubles at all in my life. Surprising?

Although I have been met with tremendous challenges, difficulties, and troubles over the last decade or so, yet I never give up and continue to survive in the world.