She studied two years (1997-99) at Beijing Language and Culture University and two years (2001-2002) at Indiana University, as a Fulbright scholar. In 2005 she received her PhD from the University of Rome La Sapienza with a thesis about identity issues and bilingualism among second generation Chinese in Italy. From 2006 to 2010 she was a post-doc fellow at the University of Urbino. In the past years she has been publishing articles on academic journals in China and Europe and lecturing on many aspects of Chinese migration.