American Pop Star Became A Graduate Student in Haining International District in Zhejiang University! MV views on YouTube are over 1.8 Million!
Haining International District in Zhejiang University is well known for the famous scholars. Surprisingly, not only that, there is an American pop star student. “A singer? Who is he? Is he famous?” I threw whole bunch of questions to my friend, who told me the news. He smiled and told me: “His name is Jackson Wells, a very handsome guy. You can go and Baidu (Google) him. It will tell you all his information.
For this reason, I went online to search his information. There are so many of them on Baidu. But I got the basic information quickly: "Popular songwriter in the US", "Handsome 90’s guy", "MV views on YouTube are over 1.8 million". Most impressive was that his first album “Picture of Life” was produced by the Grammy Award winning producer Bill Cuomo. The album was a great success! I admire his great achievement in his music career, so I found his music online. His beautiful vocal attracted me deeply. I decided to go and visit him at Zhejiang University.
Get to Know Jackson Wells
This is Jackson Wells, with blonde hair, a guitar, and the look of a musician. He can say "hello" to you in Chinese. He smiles and sincerity always shows on his face when he greets you.
Comparing to his video, in reality, he is more handsome. He has bright skin tone and the shape of his face is designed to be on the screen. Jackson is working on his Chinese, that’s why he is hiding himself in Zhejiang University. Speaking specifically, he is working on his master’s degree in China Studies.
"I reached out to Zhejiang University to express my desire to take Chinese courses first."
"Chinese is similar to music, because they both are magical languages. Many tones and sounds combined together, to make them beautiful. Chinese is like a beautiful poem and also like a heavenly song.""I have had tours in many cities throughout China. Even though we don’t speak each other’s language, the fans are really passionate. I hope to interact with them more with Chinese. I went to Beijing Language University to learn Chinese for five months earlier this year. But as soon as I went back to the US, I lose the language environment, and then I begin to forget."
Jackson was very upset when he began forgetting the Chinese language he had learned. He decided to choose another school to learn Chinese in long term. After online searching, he found his current graduate program at Zhejiang University, Master in China Studies. This program is the best fit for him! For this reason, he reached out to the program administrator.
In August, Jackson came to Shanghai to perform. On his way there, he received phone call from the program administrator.
"Are you Jackson Wells? Haining is very close to Shanghai. It just takes one hour by train. How about if you come over to meet us after your show?"
This phone call made him so excited.
Right after he finished his performance, he came to Haining, had a three-hour meeting with the program administrator. The program they offered was customized for him! He can finish the program in two years. During his school year, he can go to perform if he has guaranteed to finish all the required courses and degree required papers.
Jackson decided. This is it.
Super Star on Campus
Jackson expected himself to be a normal student here in Haining. However, at the day of registration, right after he got off the flight, there were many fans that came to greet him. He was so surprised and asked them. They told him they are his alumni. His coming became breaking news at school.
Now, Jackson’s blonde hair has become iconic. There was a time that Jackson went out with a cap on and left his beard unshaved. He thought no body was going to recognize him. However, he failed.
Jackson is very relaxed and happy to be on campus. He gets to practice Chinese all the time with his alumni and also some local people.
"The first day I arrived in Haining, I watched Haining tide. It was magnificent! This town reminds me of the town I was born in. It’s not very big, but full of nice people. The familiarity makes me happy. A few days ago, I went to buy an electric bicycle with an Italian friend, and we bargained with the seller. Even though the price didn’t go down a lot, but we felt so accomplished. Hahaha."
Real Singer Playing Guitar
Jackson sings to his classmates a lot. I got to enjoy his live performance as well. He played a very good quality guitar, and once the music started, he moved his body following the rhythm and devoting his entire mind to his music. I realized, this is the real him, a real singer.
"Kind, friendly and cute" is the compliment Chinese fans gave to him. This was also my impression after the short meeting with Jackson.
Jackson’s music talent has been apparent since he was fourteen years old. He has his own band, his own album and EPs. The past few years, he has been invited to perform in China many times, in Beijing, Shanghai, Xi’an, Hong Kong and many other cities.
One time at a show in Chengdu, the band specially performed "In Spring Time". The audience went crazy for them. Over six thousand fans were shouting Jackson’s name. The band was going to perform three songs, but they performed six to seven songs at the end. Even Jackson himself enjoyed it very much.
After this, he re-wrote the songs "Closer" and "Just Thought You Should Know" with partly Chinese lyrics. Looks like he wants to get closer with his Chinese fans.
Jackson said he likes to translate the English songs into Chinese. When he learns Chinese better, he would like to write some Chinese songs to his Chinese fans.
If you are coming to Haining International District in Zhejiang University, you might be able to meet Jackson singing with his guitar. In here, he left his super star coat, and became this next door boy who likes to speak Chinese with you.