This is a Chinese language programme without subtitles.
During her years studying in Italy, soprano Song Qian, now the prima donna of the Shanghai Opera House, experienced a number of challenges living abroad, including incidents of theft and robbery.
On one occasion, while walking at night and speaking on her mobile phone, the phone was suddenly snatched by a man she recalls as being nearly 1.9 metres tall. Instinctively, she began chasing him without thinking. At the time she often wore high heels, even though the streets were paved with uneven stone. Running in high heels across those cobblestones was difficult, but she chased the thief anyway.
The man eventually ran down into a metro station, and Song followed him underground. However, once inside the station he disappeared among the many exits. She later learned that such thieves often operate in groups and quickly pass stolen items to accomplices, making them almost impossible to track.
When she came back up to the street, people nearby told her that these criminals were repeat offenders and that it was unlikely the phone would ever be recovered. Even if the police were called, there was little chance of getting it back.
Although she felt frustrated at first, Song later looked back on the experience with humour. She vividly remembers the moment when she had leapt down the metro stairs two steps at a time while chasing the thief. Afterwards she even tried measuring the distance between the steps to see how she had managed such a jump.
Thinking about it later, she laughed at herself and realised that she had remained surprisingly optimistic despite the situation. Eventually she accepted the loss, went to Chinatown, and bought a cheap replacement.
Looking back, she reflects on the incident as just one of the many unexpected experiences she encountered while living and studying in Italy in an interview conducted on December 6th, 2024 in Shanghai.
