Today’s Episode
A nurse, a marathon champion, and a big online debate. In this episode of MaoMi Chinese, we talk about Zhang Shuihua, known as “the fastest nurse”. Why did her words after winning a marathon cause so much discussion? Where is the line between work, passion, and fairness to others?
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Work–life balance sounds simple, but in China it’s much harder than it looks. After the story of the “fastest nurse”, this episode explores overtime culture, pressure at work, and why so many people feel unable to switch off. Can we really separate work from life in China? Let’s talk about it in next MaoMi Chinese+ episode!
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大家好，欢迎回来 MaoMi Chinese！
你不工作的时候会做什么？会做运动吗？你会参加一些运动比赛，比如马拉松吗？在中国，有一个护士，她叫张水华，她也是一名马拉松选手。人们叫她“最快护士”，因为她跑得很快。但是，这位“最快护士”被她工作的医院批评了，她说的很多话也让人们讨论。今天，我们一起来聊一聊吧！
张水华在中国福建的一个医院工作。不工作的时候，她喜欢跑步，也参加了很多马拉松比赛。人们都叫她“最快护士”。2025 年 8 月，她参加了哈尔滨马拉松比赛。她跑得非常快，拿到了女子组第一名。
比赛以后，有人去采访她，她在采访里说：希望医院的领导让她调休跑马拉松。调，意思是调整，也就是去改一些东西。休，也就是休息。调休，意思是改变一下她休息的时间。她的意思是，不是想多休息，只是希望换一下休息的时间，这样，她就有时间多去比赛。她说了这句话以后，很多人讨论。
很多人支持她，觉得她一边工作，一边跑马拉松，很不容易，也很努力。很多人觉得，普通人也应该有自己的爱好和梦想。
但也有一些人不同意。有的人觉得，护士的工作很重要，不能因为个人的爱好经常调休。如果她经常调休，她的同事也要跟着她调休。她的同事们也有自己的生活，经常调休对她的同事们不公平。
后来，她的医院认为，她有一些问题，经常用不真实的理由调休，还有，她自己接了广告，医院不同意。所以，医院批评了她。
张水华现在还在医院工作，但是她也继续在跑马拉松。2026年1月1日，她又拿了一个马拉松比赛的第一名。
这件事情让很多人开始思考一个问题：工作和个人爱好应该怎么平衡？当你的梦想影响到别人时，我们应该怎么做？
你怎么看张水华这件事呢？欢迎给我们留言，分享你的看法。
Hello everyone, welcome back to MaoMi Chinese!
What do you do when you’re not working? Do you exercise? Do you take part in sports competitions, such as marathons? In China, there is a nurse called Zhang Shuihua, who is also a marathon runner. People call her “the fastest nurse” because she runs very fast. However, this “fastest nurse” was criticised by the hospital where she works, and many of the things she said have caused a lot of discussion. Today, let’s talk about it together.
Zhang Shuihua works at a hospital in Fujian, China. When she is not working, she likes running and has taken part in many marathon races. People often call her “the fastest nurse”. In August 2025, she ran in the Harbin Marathon. She ran very fast and won first place in the women’s category.
After the race, someone interviewed her. In the interview, she said that she hoped the hospital leaders would allow her to adjust her rest days so she could run marathons. “Adjust” means to change something, and “rest” means time off. So “adjusting rest days” means changing when she takes her time off. What she meant was that she did not want more time off, but wanted to swap her rest days so that she could have more time to compete. After she said this, many people began to discuss it.
Many people supported her. They felt that it is not easy to work and run marathons at the same time, and that she works very hard. Many people also believe that ordinary people should have their own hobbies and dreams.
However, some people did not agree. They felt that a nurse’s job is very important and that she should not frequently change her rest days because of personal hobbies. If she often changes her shifts, her colleagues also have to change theirs. Her colleagues have their own lives too, and frequent schedule changes are unfair to them.
Later, her hospital believed that she had some problems. She often used untrue reasons to change her shifts, and she also accepted advertising work without the hospital’s approval. Because of this, the hospital criticised her.
Zhang Shuihua is still working at the hospital, and she continues to run marathons. On 1 January 2026, she won first place in another marathon race.
This situation has made many people think about an important question: how should we balance work and personal hobbies? When your dreams affect other people, what should we do?
What do you think about Zhang Shuihua’s story? Leave us a comment and share your thoughts with us.
自己的梦想最重要。另外特别是医院里领导和同事应该支持她，知道保持健康非常重要。