Look who is cooking

Fiori explains details of a recipe to students of the same class.[Photo provided to China Daily]

Life-changing times

Ng and Fiori wed this summer, first on May 27 in a castle in his Tuscany hometown, and then again on July 26 in Malaysia.

The couple has also begun hosting dinners at home through Weyoufan, an online platform that connects home cooks with groups of strangers eager to sample their creations.

"I try to express myself more directly in food through the dinners. I usually have a six-course meal－Italian, but with a twist.

"You meet people that you normally wouldn't meet."

Fiori is currently completing his PhD at Tsinghua University, while also helping the University of Pisa develop business in China. His thesis is three-quarters written and he is working on the final project. He expects to graduate in January.

He says he chose the field because he was very curious about physics, and nuclear engineering has the broadest range of physics of all the sciences.

He moved to Canada at age 24 to take a job as a research assistant at McMaster University in Ontario, staying for less than a year.

And then he went back to Pisa to work in a group at the university there, doing international consulting, and research on the side.

He also came to China for the first time in 2011 for work, and fell in love with the country. He applied for a PhD program that began in September the following year.

He was also accepted to PhD programs at two universities in the United States in addition to Tsinghua, and offered a job in Rome, all in one hectic week.

"I was choosing between just a career and something that was life-changing－that I really hoped was going to open my mind," he says. "I would see a different culture and learn (about) a different world.

"The real reason is I enjoyed China when I was here and wanted to see more."