She has developed architecturally stunning buildings in Beijing and is one of China's richest women, but property magnate Zhang Xin, 49, says her whirlwind engagement in 1994 to twice-divorced Pan Shiyi, now her husband, remains her biggest venture.
Some 20 years later, the power couple behind real estate giant Soho China - whose combined net worth is estimated at US$3.6 billion (S$4.6 billion) - have added to their track record of opting for the unconventional.
They announced last week they were giving US$10 million to Yale University, once again prompting an angry outcry from Chinese netizens who believe that the money should have gone towards education in the country. In July, the couple's gift of US$15 million to Harvard University also sparked a similar controversy.
Both sums of money are part of the Soho China Scholarships, a US$100 million endowment in financial aid aimed at encouraging less well-off Chinese students to study abroad.
"The Soho China Scholarships aim to provide the best possible educational opportunities to the most outstanding students from mainland China, enabling them to maximise their potential in their contribution to mankind," said the company in a statement.
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The couple's focus on educational causes is likely to be linked to their own humble beginnings.
Mr Pan, 50, grew up in an impoverished part of western China after his father, who was a college lecturer, was purged as a "rightist" and sent to the countryside in Gansu province in the late 1950s.
After graduating from Beijing Petroleum Institute, he went to work in the oil ministry.
He ventured into property development in Hainan island in 1987, at a time when southern China was reaping the economic benefits from the opening-up policy and the Shenzhen special economic zone.
As a teenager growing up in Hong Kong, Ms Zhang worked 12-hour shifts in the city's fire-trap sweatshops in the day and attended classes at night.
Raised by a single mother, she eventually saved enough money to fly to Britain when she was 19. With the help of scholarships, she first got into Sussex University and then Cambridge. She later worked for Goldman Sachs in New York.
She returned to Beijing in 1994 looking for opportunities to be part of the transition that was sweeping the country.
She met Mr Pan, then a partner of property development firm Beijing Vantone, on a double date, although it was her friend who was supposed to be set up with him.
The couple got engaged a week later.
"Pan was humorous, honest, creative and even idealistic, which attracted me deeply," she told China Business Weekly in a 2004 article.
In 1995, the couple set up Soho China, which has since become Beijing's largest commercial property developer.
The firm introduced the small office, home office (Soho) concept to the Chinese market as it recognised the rise of Internet technology, small firms and the need for more live-work spaces.
Soho China is also known for pushing the architectural envelope by working with renowned foreign architects like Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid.
One of their projects, Commune by the Great Wall - a series of villas designed by 12 Asian architects with private access to part of the Great Wall of China - was hailed by Business Week as a New Architectural Wonder of China in 2005.
Like their striking buildings that have become landmarks in the capital, the couple - who have two teenage sons - do not shy away from the spotlight.
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They are known for their glamorous parties, designer clothes and celebrity friends, although rumours in 2012 of a love child fathered by Mr Pan were said to have strained the marriage.
Mr Pan has also been described as a "tireless self-promoter", making his presence felt on television, the Internet, newspapers and even in a locally produced romantic comedy.
Ms Zhang has a cameo appearance in the 2010 American movie Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.
The couple have more than 25 million followers combined on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo where they touch on topics from current affairs to architecture.
But spirituality has become increasingly important for the couple, who practise the Baha'i faith, which emphasises the spiritual unity of all humankind.
In a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) article in 2011, Ms Zhang insisted religion had "transformed" her.
"We've put too much confidence in (the idea) that materialistic abundance will bring along better education, which will in turn facilitate (progress) in civilisation," she wrote in a post on Weibo. "But China's development has smashed our illusion."
The couple's renewed focus is on charity and education, even as they try to pass on the values of thrift and hard work to their sons.
Still, despite the brickbats the couple have received, many have praised them for boosting China's fledgling private philanthropy sector. And it seems the couple are just getting started.
"Getting the best education should not only be for those who have the means, it should be for those with the talent," Ms Zhang said in a WSJ article in July.
"It's my turn to be generous to others."
This article was first published on Nov 3, 2014.
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