Yuan spent three months in India, the most memorable being a month volunteering at a meditation center, an experience she says helped her get to know herself and gave her courage to face the future.

Every day there were two meditation sessions, for an hour each morning and another after work. During the first one, people would express their emotions any way they wished, often through dance, screaming and even crying, as long as they did not touch other people. During the second session they would relax and try to shake off life's burdens.

"I felt that I was refreshed with new energy and let go of all the negative emotions," she says. "I'm more honest with myself now and can take things more calmly."

Yuan's first book, a record of her travel and emotional change in India, sold around 15,000 copies in half a year, which is a good start for an unknown author, according to Li Mei, an editor with Beijing Fonghong Media.

"Her book is quite different from others, as she has described her inner mind and her thoughts about many things, which could have some resonance with her audience," Li says. "Moreover, her path is different from others. When she first left, she was in confusion, but when she returned, she was full of positive energy."

Family and many of Yuan's friends were unable to understand why she would give up a stable career to travel and write, but He Yuan, her friend of more than a decade, was supportive.

"She has always been willing to take risky challenges," he says. "When we went to Macao to bungee jump, some friends didn't dare try. She tried it once, thought it wasn't exciting enough, and then tried again."

He describes her as being like a cloud － completely unpredictable and floating everywhere. Yuan likes the description and says anywhere could be perfect.