Life Is Always Smiling: Stories from My Life

The triumphant life story of Huixian Chen. Born in China in 1933, she was one of fourteen children of doctor parents. Separated from her parents during the Japanese invasion of China, she spends a harrowing childhood struggling against the horrifying conditions of war. As an adolescent, she is exposed to many political movements. She works as an interpreter in the Ministry of Foreign Trade and sometimes for Premier Zhou EnLai, yet is unfairly labeled an "unannounced rightist" by the authorities. Long years of suffering life's hardships culminate in a fatal diagnosis with stage-four breast cancer. It is at this moment that she commits herself to the study and practice of qigong - an ancient Chinese discipline that deals with the balance of the "qi" or life energy of the body and the Universe. This practice leads to a miraculous reversal in her diagnosis and a new life dedicated to both the practice and teaching of qigong in China and later in America. As a 30-year cancer survivor Huixian Chen shares her story of a life of optimism, over-coming odds again and again and finds that for her, life is always smiling.