Staying true despite success
Educated in Lhasa, Shanghai, Beijing and New York, outstanding Tibetan woman takes her Chinese heritage around the globe
Despite excelling in education and achieving many of her goals in life, Tsering Chugye remains deeply connected to her cultural roots.
The 30-year-old from the Tibetan ethnic group has come a long way from her humble beginnings in western China's Xizang autonomous region.
As a child, she shone early at school in the regional capital of Lhasa, topping her class in almost every subject.
Due to her excellent performance, she was accepted into a prestigious high school in Shanghai, and in 2010, she faced the daunting trek of thousands of kilometers across the country to study.
This was Tsering Chugye's first big challenge in life, she said. Living in a sprawling modern city like Shanghai was nothing like her home out west. The people, the food and the culture were all different, and she began feeling homesick.
Instead of being top of the class like she was back in Lhasa, she suddenly found herself at the bottom, having to work her way back up.
