If You Woke Up Tomorrow Able to Hear—Would You Be Happy?
She smiled and said: "No."
Victoria's Parlor · Ten Years in the Making · In Conversation with Gao Yuye
Some hold conversations with the world through sound. Others answer it with their hands.
What is Victoria's Parlor?
I'm Victoria Qu (Qu Liying), 16 years old. I write songs, and I perform stand-up comedy. Victoria's Parlor is a conversation series: in every episode, I invite a woman with real experience, real stories, and real attitude to sit down for a proper, unhurried talk.
This International Week of the Deaf, our special guest: Gao Yuye, Deaf.
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Part One: Two Sentences
The first thing I noticed about Gao Yuye was her eyes.
She was truly listening to you—tracking your expressions, the movements of your lips, the little gestures of your hands. It took me a while to realize: those were her "ears."
Ten summers ago, at the graduation ceremony of East China University of Science and Technology, this young woman stepped up to the podium, spoke two sentences, and moved the faculty to tears on the spot. The video was later reposted by dozens of official media outlets—CCTV News, Xinhua, the Communist Youth League Central Committee—and racked up over 30 million views. That year, she became "the Deaf graduate who moved the entire Chinese internet."
Ten years later, she was sitting in the parlor of a 16-year-old high school student. In the years between, she earned a master's degree from Gallaudet University—the world's only institution of higher education in which all programs and services are specifically designed for Deaf and hard-of-hearing people. Chartered by the U.S. Congress in 1864, with the act signed by President Abraham Lincoln, it is often called "the Harvard of the Deaf."
My first question was a direct one:
"Your 2017 graduation speech—that's the one that passed 30 million views online. You spoke just two sentences, and people in the audience cried right there. You said: I will do my best to pronounce every word clearly. I know sign language is your first-choice language, yet you delivered that speech in spoken Chinese. So if you could do it all over again—would you speak it, or sign it?"
She laughed, answered me in speech and sign at the same time:
"I actually considered signing the speech, and the university was fine with it. But the speech had a strict three-minute limit, and after rehearsing it, I realized I'd run five or six minutes over. So in the end I had no choice but to speak it. If I could choose again, I would definitely sign."
I asked her why.
"In interviews afterwards, I've always made a point of saying: I am a sign language user, and I want to help promote sign language culture—because it is our own culture."
Part Two: Her Dream, On Stage
After earning her master's degree in clinical mental health counseling from Gallaudet University, Gao Yuye became a registered counselor under the Clinical and Counseling Psychology Registration System of the Chinese Psychological Society. Today, she works as a psychological counselor specializing in the Deaf and hard-of-hearing community.
She told me that laughing your head off at stand-up is a genuinely effective way to let go of stress, and that on Bilibili she keeps coming back to two comedians—her favorites: Norah, a leading voice of multilingual stand-up in China, who stands for diversity in the languages of comedy;
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and Hei Deng, a comedian with visual impairment who turns his everyday life as a blind person into material on stage, standing for diversity in the identities of comedy.
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So when we first met, she asked me, her eyes full of envy: "You do stand-up?" She loves comedy—yet she has never once set foot in a live comedy venue.
A Deaf comedy lover who has never managed to step through the door of a comedy club.
I asked: "What is your dream?"
"I hope that one day, I can 'tell' stand-up comedy in sign language on a real stage—so more people get to know our community."
Hearing this, I sat up straight.
Three years ago, I was 13, being interviewed at the stand-up club Spicy Comedy, when someone asked: "What do you want to do in the next five years?"
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I said: "There's one thing I specifically want to do—I want Deaf people to walk into comedy clubs. Not just to watch the shows, but one day, to perform on stage themselves."
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Three years later, I'm 16—and the Deaf guest sitting in my parlor just told me her dream.
In that moment, it hit me: the wish I made on camera three years ago was turning into reality.
Then she said something I'll probably remember for a very long time:
"I don't want to be the one laughing in the audience. I want to be the one on stage making you laugh."
Part Three: Thirty Seconds
Halfway through the interview, I made a slightly "outrageous" request.
"Could you improvise a joke in sign language—right now, in thirty seconds?"
Gao Yuye agreed with a smile.
First, she told the joke purely in sign. Her hands danced at lightning speed—fingers, wrists, eyebrows, the corners of her mouth, everything was performance. At one point she suddenly froze mid-motion, as if someone had hit pause; then, snap, she bloomed open again. My instincts told me instantly: that was the punchline.
Then she delivered the same joke again, speaking and signing at the same time—and this time, we caught every word. We cracked up. 👇
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It dawned on me: stand-up isn't just a verbal art form. It might also be a space where two cultures can actually meet.
Stand-up has never depended on sound alone—expressions, body language, and gesture have always been part of the craft. Her arrival might draw more Deaf friends into comedy clubs. A comedy stage can hold every kind of voice; diversity is the very lifeblood of art. I can't wait for the day she truly takes that stage and "tells" her own killer jokes—with her hands.
Part Four: I Have a Friend
And the story didn't stop at the interview. On September 23, the International Day of Sign Languages, I Have a Friend—my original song, with its music video—went live on all platforms: lyrics and music by Qu Liying, who also directed the MV, with Gao Yuye serving as sign language director and co-performer.
I asked her why she was willing to star in the MV—after all, China has almost no precedent of a hearing artist and a Deaf artist co-starring in a music video as equal collaborators, let alone a work created by a 16-year-old high school student.
She said it was because this song is different. I Have a Friend breaks away from the old stereotypes about Deaf people: no tragedy, no pity. The Deaf character in this song is portrayed positively. Deaf and hearing are simply two ways of being human; every person is one of a kind. Difference is not a deficit—instead, it opens the door to richer expression.
There's also the symmetry of the lyrics, running in both directions:
I have a Deaf friend, I have a hearing friend.
"The lyrics don't split anyone apart—they're equal. That's what impressed me most."
So—tell me about our collaboration, then.
"We both worked hard to pass the meaning across precisely through sign, and at the same time we created shared artistic elements together, working out how to blend the two forms of expression so they truly match what the lyrics want to say."
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Which line of I Have a Friend do you like best?
(Like) the person who I am. —just like... the person I want to become.
That line moves me because it goes beyond the boundary of hearing and points at something more essential: self-identity. This way of expressing—one thing reaching the ears and the eyes in sync, yet each complete on its own—this kind of resonance is the most precious part of our collaboration.
Part Five: Quick-Fire Q&A at Victoria's Parlor
Q: Is there any field where Deaf people can do better than hearing people?
"Deaf people can do anything—except hear. With accessible information and support, there's nothing we can't do. We can even volunteer, and support others—like the DeafBlind community, for example."
Q: Every year around International Week of the Deaf, there are tons of "awareness" campaigns. What do you actually hope people will do this week?
"I hope people don't just pay attention for this one week. I hope they keep Deaf people in mind the rest of the year, too."
Q: Social media is in the middle of a 'sign dance' craze, but many creators twist sign language for visual effects, and the accuracy of expression gets lost. As a sign language creator, do you worry that sign language is being turned into entertainment—and misunderstood?
"I'm grateful, and I encourage people to spread our language. But accuracy comes first: the meaning and the grammar have to be conveyed correctly. That is respect for our culture."
(Victoria adds: I make original sign-language cover videos myself, and I believe accuracy matters just as much. Before every shoot, I consult members of the Deaf community and take their feedback and guidance seriously.)
Gao Yuye gave a thumbs-up.
Q: After graduating in 2017, you went to Gallaudet—from Chinese Sign Language to American Sign Language, a language you didn't know at all; from China to an unfamiliar country. What made you take that leap?
"I grew up in mainstream schools, surrounded by hearing people, and everyday communication took real effort. When it came to grad school, I chose Gallaudet. Partly to challenge myself and broaden my horizons—but also to experience a fully signing environment, and find my own comfort zone of communication again."
Q: If you woke up tomorrow with hearing—would you be happy?
She smiled, hesitated for a few seconds, and gave her answer: no.
"For me, not hearing isn't a 'defect.' It's simply part of who I am. I've thought about this before: if I were a hearing person, I probably would never have supported the Deaf community, never learned sign language, never spoken up for Deaf culture."
What Victoria didn't see coming: I expected hesitation, or at least a flicker of regret—after all, this world was "designed for ears." But her answer was perfectly calm. That day, I finally heard what "Deaf Pride" means: not a slogan, but the quiet groundedness of a person who is fully at home in her own body.
Coda
Since September 23, the International Day of Sign Languages, I Have a Friend and its music video have been available on all streaming platforms. Let's keep working together to make music richer—so that audiences can listen to it in every style, and also see it with their own eyes.
International Week of the Deaf | Gao Yuye × Victoria's Parlor — the full interview videos, in both Chinese and English, will be released soon. Stay tuned! 🤩
Victoria's Parlor
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Guest: Gao Yuye | Deaf psychological counselor | Bicultural Deaf | M.A., Gallaudet University
Host: Victoria Qu (Qu Liying) | 16-year-old high school student | Singer-songwriter | Stand-up comedian
All content in this article has been reviewed and confirmed by the guest herself. Thank you for bringing your most comfortable way of expression into this parlor.
Planning & Interview: Victoria Qu
Text Editing: Victoria Qu
Video Editing: Victoria Qu
