Wei Dongyi, one of China’s most famous mathematicians, recently went viral for his unkempt looks and extremely frugal lifestyle, reportedly living on just 300 yuan ($40) per month.

It’s safe to say that China has no shortage of math geniuses, but one among them stands out both for his prowess as a problem solver and his unusually frugal lifestyle. Born in 1991, Wei Dongyi showed amazing potential in the field of mathematics from a very young age, but he only started making news headlines in China during his high school years, when he won gold medals with perfect scores in the 49th and 50th International Mathematical Olympiads. His achievements allowed him to enroll at the prestigious Peking University without taking the infamous gaokao college exam, and he later became a respected teacher there. But, despite his fame as a math genius, Dongyi often attracts attention because of his simple way of life and modest looks.

  Read More »

While most 18-year-olds are getting ready to go to college or get a job, March Tian Boedihardjo, a Hong Kong-born Indonesian Chinese math prodigy has already accomplished both. He has recently completed his doctorate program and is now an associate professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Although he never liked being called a prodigy, saying that it implies that he didn’t have to work very hard for his achievements, March Tian Boedihardjo is definitely very special. he first made international headlines in 2007, when at the tender age of nine, he managed to get an A in both Mathematics and Further Mathematics and a B in Statistics in the General Certificate of Education (GCE) A-levels in the United Kingdom. I should mention that these entrance exams are usually taken by students aged 17 or older. Read More »