Lush greenery around the Science Island, where some of the country's top research institutes and laboratories are located. [Photo provided to China Daily]

From 1995 to 2001, Wang was earning his doctorate at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory in Florida, the United States, which currently boasts the strongest magnet on Earth.

The laboratory on Science Island was aiming to usurp that position. The news excited Wang, and he flew to the place to see it with his own eyes.

It just so happened that Kuang Guangli, the director of the High-Magnetic Field Laboratory, was urgently seeking scientists who could make full use of the facility once it was completed. The two of them met.

"Kuang is a charismatic leader," Wang recalls of his first meeting with the director. "And he values talent."

After a long talk with Kuang and a tour around the peninsula, Wang called his wife in Boston that night and told her that he wanted to work on the island.

A month later, Wang returned with his wife and two children.

"I could still remember that day. It was Aug 2, and we flew 13 hours from Boston to Shanghai, carrying 12 pieces of luggage," says Wang.

Two colleagues from the lab picked them up at the airport in Shanghai and drove six hours to Hefei.

It was past midnight when Wang settled down in an apartment rented for them.