Love from China to Chapel Hill

It might seem as though two people who live a world apart and speak different languages could meet and fall in love only in the plot of a romantic movie.

But that scenario is a reality for UNC graduate student Grant Ligon and his fiancee, Jingyuan Sun, now a UNC graduate student herself.

The couple met in Qingdao, China, while Ligon was on a summer study abroad program at Ocean University in 2009. In a city of more than 7 million people, the two still managed to meet one day at the university’s tennis courts.

“I’d never really considered a white boy before but he just kept asking me to eat,” Sun said.

When she finally said “yes,” the couple hit it off and their relationship quickly progressed.

Although Sun spoke limited English and Ligon spoke no Chinese, the two connected immediately.

“A big step in our relationship was when I proposed that I meet her parents about three weeks after meeting her,” Ligon said.

Meeting Ligon shocked Sun’s parents, who live in Changchun and who had never seen a white person before.

Just a few weeks later it was time for Ligon to return to the U.S., but the couple decided to continue the relationship by chatting daily over Skype. It was never a burden for them to make time to be able to talk to each other, they said.

“Don’t let the difficulties of staying in touch get in the way,” he said. “You can find the time to talk to someone even if it means getting up in the middle of the night because of the time difference.”

Over the next year, Sun was able to apply for a visa to visit Ligon.

While visiting UNC, Sun decided to apply to a graduate program so she could stay with Ligon. She was accepted into the program but had to return to China to finish her senior year of college.

“We were all so sad when she left the first time, myself and my parents, that was when we knew it was serious,” Ligon said.

Just before the pair started graduate school together, they decided to take a pre-honeymoon trip to Dubai, Italy, France and Spain.

“It was a dream,” said Sun.

But since the vacation was a stop on Sun’s way to the U.S., they had to bring her luggage from China with them on the trip.

“We had to drag about 67 pounds of luggage all through Venice’s cobbled streets,” Sun said.

Ligon remembers differently.

“No, I had to carry all that luggage around Europe,” he said, laughing.

Before their 22-day trip to Europe, they had already traveled to South Korea, Guizhou and Malaysia.

Their love of travel has spread to Ligon’s family, who visited China for the first time in October to surprise Sun.

“My parents were blown away by China — they loved it,” he said.

“We even got to take my parents to the tennis courts where we met.”

After all of their adventures, the pair said they are happy to be living in Chapel Hill.

Ligon said Sun has become a true UNC student. Sun said she came to understand a major part of UNC life while watching the Duke game on Wednesday.

“Before I didn’t know why they say ‘Go to hell Duke’ in the school song, but now I do,” Sun said.

Ligon asked Sun to marry him on his birthday in March this year, and the couple is planning their wedding. They would like to hold a small marriage ceremony in early May, and might also go to China after graduate school for a more traditional Chinese wedding.

But the couple doesn’t have any big plans for this Valentine’s Day. Ligon said it would be difficult to top their travels.

“It’s hard to think of something impressive to do,” he said. “We really love going out to dinner together so that’s probably what we’ll do.”

This is perfectly fine with Sun.

“We don’t require a lot to be happy, that’s one of the great things about our relationship,” Sun said.

Contact the University Editor at university@dailytarheel.com.