Open/Close Toolbox
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 New Zealand License
Format: Audio
Linked To
Collection
Copyright
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 New Zealand LicenseThis licence lets you remix, tweak, and build upon our work noncommercially and although your new works must also acknowledge us and be noncommercial, you do not have to license the derivative works on the same terms.
- People
- Places
- Themes
- Surprise Me!
Menu
- People
- Places
- Themes
- Surprise Me!
Jian Liu
Expand/collapse
Description
TitleJian LiuCollectionFaces of SelwynDescriptionOur co-host Maggie Cahill shares her journey from Ireland to Selwyn, before we learn about Jian’s journey from China to Selwyn. Jian Liu came to Lincoln in November 2013 to study a Postgraduate Diploma in Agriculture Science, seeking a lifestyle change. After spending some time in Hawkes Bay on a job opportunity, he came back to Lincoln because of the openness of the community.
Rising early to catch a two hour subway to work and visiting his four year-old daughter at his parents on the weekend, Jian Liu decided this Beijing lifestyle wasn’t what he and his wife wanted.
“Every day we spent lots of time on the commute and my wife is the same and then one day we said, ‘this is not the lifestyle we want to experience.’”
Together the couple thought that if Beijing wasn’t for them, they could try living somewhere else and started looking for a new country to call home.
“We did a little bit of research and because we studied agriculture, three countries came in at the top.”
Jian says Canada was too cold for his wife, having come from a warm part of China. Australia seemed to have less of a focus on agriculture study, which lead them to choosing New Zealand.
Jian applied for both Massey and Lincoln University, and after hearing back from Lincoln University, the family made the move to Lincoln in November 2013.
With limited English speaking ability, Jian said moving to New Zealand was a big culture shock.
“I couldn’t speak a whole English sentence when I came to New Zealand, so I had to go through a three month English course.”
After completing his postgraduate diploma in agriculture science, Jian accepted a permanent position with Plant and Food Research in Hawke’s Bay.
Jian says he didn’t really feel like he belonged in Hawke’s Bay and started to miss Lincoln. There wasn’t a lot of diversity, compared to Lincoln where there’s many international students and migrants, he says.
Jian talked to his manager who gave him an opportunity to move back and work at Plant and Food Research in Lincoln.
Jian realised that Lincoln felt more like home than his birth country after visiting his parents in China.
“When I got off the plane I just feel a little bit overwhelmed. Oh, this is so crowded compared to New Zealand and then I feel everything is a bit rushed, because I’m used to this slower lifestyle. When I came back to New Zealand I feel a sense of home, it really made me think, ‘oh which is my real home?’, So I had a bit of struggle during that time, but I think I choose Selwyn as my home town now.”
CreatorHayley TateMaggie CahillDate2021Runtime26.48
Rising early to catch a two hour subway to work and visiting his four year-old daughter at his parents on the weekend, Jian Liu decided this Beijing lifestyle wasn’t what he and his wife wanted.
“Every day we spent lots of time on the commute and my wife is the same and then one day we said, ‘this is not the lifestyle we want to experience.’”
Together the couple thought that if Beijing wasn’t for them, they could try living somewhere else and started looking for a new country to call home.
“We did a little bit of research and because we studied agriculture, three countries came in at the top.”
Jian says Canada was too cold for his wife, having come from a warm part of China. Australia seemed to have less of a focus on agriculture study, which lead them to choosing New Zealand.
Jian applied for both Massey and Lincoln University, and after hearing back from Lincoln University, the family made the move to Lincoln in November 2013.
With limited English speaking ability, Jian said moving to New Zealand was a big culture shock.
“I couldn’t speak a whole English sentence when I came to New Zealand, so I had to go through a three month English course.”
After completing his postgraduate diploma in agriculture science, Jian accepted a permanent position with Plant and Food Research in Hawke’s Bay.
Jian says he didn’t really feel like he belonged in Hawke’s Bay and started to miss Lincoln. There wasn’t a lot of diversity, compared to Lincoln where there’s many international students and migrants, he says.
Jian talked to his manager who gave him an opportunity to move back and work at Plant and Food Research in Lincoln.
Jian realised that Lincoln felt more like home than his birth country after visiting his parents in China.
“When I got off the plane I just feel a little bit overwhelmed. Oh, this is so crowded compared to New Zealand and then I feel everything is a bit rushed, because I’m used to this slower lifestyle. When I came back to New Zealand I feel a sense of home, it really made me think, ‘oh which is my real home?’, So I had a bit of struggle during that time, but I think I choose Selwyn as my home town now.”
CreatorHayley TateMaggie CahillDate2021Runtime26.48
Maggie Cahill, Jian Liu (2021). Selwyn Stories, accessed 19/07/2026, https://selwynstories.selwynlibraries.co.nz/nodes/view/4265