He is a Ph.D. student at China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), dedicated to earthquake research. Recently, he published a paper as the first author in the top academic journal Science.
She is a post-00s Turkish girl who has loved Chinese culture since childhood. She is currently a graduate student at the School of Foreign Languages at Central China Normal University, excelling in her studies.
Wherever these two young people go, they are a beautiful sight to behold. Not long ago, when they officially announced their engagement on social media, they received many blessings.
This spring, by the East Lake in Wuhan, at a small café, the two of them walked in hand in hand, took their seats, and shared their romantic love story with the China Science Daily.
Meng Jiannan and Xiao Ai (pictured)
Chinese Ph.D. student goes against the tide in Turkey
On February 6, 2023, a deafening roar erupted from the depths of the earth.
A 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck eastern Turkey, plunging the area into endless darkness. Just 9 hours after the initial quake, a 7.5 magnitude aftershock shook the region again.
In Wuhan, China, thousands of miles away, 24-year-old Turkish student Aisha Yu (nicknamed "Xiao Ai" in China) woke up in terror. She seemed to have a premonition: "Four hours before the earthquake, I heard a loud explosion in my dream, and I woke up feeling very uneasy."
According to reports, this earthquake in Turkey and Syria claimed the lives of around 60,000 people, with 120,000 injured, and tens of thousands of homes reduced to rubble in an instant. It was one of the strongest earthquakes the region had experienced in at least a century and the deadliest in Turkey in over 100 years.
Learning about the devastating earthquake in her home country, many compatriots were displaced, and Xiao Ai couldn't hold back her tears. Seeing his girlfriend's anxious face, Meng Jiannan, a Ph.D. student at China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), immediately applied to go to Turkey to collect post-earthquake surface data, study the earthquake's destruction, and make scientific contributions to future disaster relief and earthquake prevention efforts.
Due to the complex situation in the quake-hit area and concerns for personal safety, both the university and even the professors from the joint training program in Turkey advised against his journey.
After several meetings and discussions at China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), with the support of his advisor, Tim Koski, an overseas professor at the university, Meng Jiannan's application was finally approved. Within 10 days after the earthquake, Meng Jiannan traveled from various places and finally arrived at the quake-hit area.
According to the training plan, Meng Jiannan was supposed to graduate in the summer of 2023, but going to Turkey would inevitably delay his progress, meaning his graduation would be postponed by a year. However, earthquakes were his research focus, and he couldn't turn a blind eye. Moreover, Turkey was Xiao Ai's hometown, where the two had met.
In 2021, Meng Jiannan was sent by the university to a Turkish institution for joint training. On Christmas Day, shortly after arriving in Ankara (the capital of Turkey), he got lost while taking a taxi, faced traffic jams, and arrived very late.
"Sorry for being late." Meng Jiannan apologized breathlessly to the blonde, blue-eyed girl in front of him.
Turkish girl Xiao Ai had a fondness for Chinese culture since she was young. At the age of 10, she even studied Chinese martial arts for two years. She had always wanted to meet a Chinese student and learn Chinese from them. Through friends, she eventually found Meng Jiannan.
"When I first met him, I didn't have a good impression of him," Xiao Ai recalled. "Ankara's winter was very cold, and I stood outside in a dress waiting for him for a long time. Fortunately, he was sincere and shared a lot of knowledge related to China."
In 2022, after completing his joint training in Turkey, Meng Jiannan returned to Wuhan to continue his Ph.D. studies. Xiao Ai decided to study in mainland China - to deepen her understanding of the Chinese culture she had loved since childhood and for the Chinese boy who had captured her heart.
After some twists and turns, Xiao Ai was awarded a scholarship for language study at a university in Wuhan. On October 27, 2022, this loving couple reunited in Wuhan.
Meng Jiannan and Xiao Ai (pictured by the interviewee)
Achieving Important Results in a Dangerous Seismic Zone
When Meng Jiannan arrived in Turkey again, the seismic zone was still in a dangerous period of continuous aftershocks, with yellow dust everywhere, collapsed houses, and bodies buried under the rubble. Water and food had become luxuries, leading to multiple riots in the area, with some even taking advantage of the situation to steal firearms.
Moreover, no one could guarantee that aftershocks of magnitude 7 or higher would not occur again.
In Turkey, Meng Jiannan witnessed a lot of sadness. He saw a woman sitting on the ruins, expressionless, with a vacant look in her eyes, muttering, "My home is gone, my family is gone, everything is gone." It was then he realized that a person in extreme sadness cannot cry.
He also witnessed rare smiles in the disaster area - some children could still find moments of joy amidst the hardship, enjoying playing football. Meng Jiannan played with them, sharing the chocolates and biscuits he brought with the children.
During the data collection process, Meng Jiannan encountered issues where the purchased and designated drone flying areas did not match, preventing takeoff. He used aluminum foil to shield the drone's GPS module for takeoff. He did this repeatedly, tirelessly.
Without a map to design flight routes, he drove back and forth on the earthquake-ravaged land, allowing the drone to follow his path for measurements. When the machine broke down, he had to go far to repair it, even surviving a serious car accident with no casualties.
It proved crucial to arrive at the epicenter promptly - after completing a month-long on-site investigation and leaving, Turkey experienced a flood disaster shortly after. Rain and snow washed away crucial scientific evidence - the surface rupture traces.
On-site, Meng Jiannan conducted systematic field measurements of the surface displacements of the Dead Sea Fault and the East Anatolian Fault caused by this earthquake event. Compared to satellite data, the precision of this research reached the centimeter level, providing a timely and high-precision post-earthquake surface record.
Their research revealed that the location with the most significant surface damage from the earthquake event was 47.5 kilometers from the epicenter, with no significant surface rupture observed at the epicenter. The relationship between earthquake activity and surface damage is not simply based on distance. This differs from the common belief that the epicenter is where the most significant surface damage occurs.
His firsthand data and research conclusions sparked great interest from the editors of Science magazine. They voluntarily doubled the publication space for this research - expanding from 4 pages to 8 pages ("China Science News" reported on January 19 under the title "The strongest location of post-earthquake surface damage may not be the epicenter").
Meng Jiannan Collects Data in Earthquake-stricken Area of Turkey (Photo Provided by Interviewee)
True feelings in adversity connect cross-border bonds
While friends around him only knew that Meng Jiannan went to the earthquake-stricken area of Turkey and drew important research conclusions, they were unaware of the hardships he endured, trekking during the day and falling asleep amidst aftershocks at night. However, a Turkish girl studying in China kept all these struggles close to her heart.
With a time difference of about 5 hours between China and Turkey, Xiao Ai often stayed up until three or four in the morning just to video call Meng Jiannan for a few minutes, checking on her beloved to see if he was safe and how the situation was in the Turkish earthquake zone. During that month, she only slept for four to five hours each day.
"Although I am very worried about his safety, I am also very proud because he risked his life for my country, helping my compatriots in the most dangerous places. When he, as a Chinese researcher, went alone to Turkey, I was deeply moved," Xiao Ai told Science China Press. "It was at that moment that I decided to marry this man."
After the Chinese New Year this year, on February 28th, Xiao Ai and Meng Jiannan completed the necessary legal procedures in Wuhan and announced their engagement.
In Turkey, there is a saying called "right person." Xiao Ai told Science China Press, "My mother told me that she thinks Meng Jiannan is the right person."
Fate is truly a wonderful thing! After they got married, Xiao Ai dug out her diary from her teenage years, where she had written:
"I hope to find someone in the future with a different cultural background, but with an understanding and exposure to Turkish culture, someone with small eyes when smiling, who enjoys sports, is humorous yet responsible, has a cheerful personality, and preferably an academic boyfriend."
"All these requirements seemed difficult to fulfill. But after being with Meng Jiannan, I was amazed to find that he met all the conditions!"
Xiao Ai and Meng Jiannan (pictured above)
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