Born in 1973, National Youth Commission Minister Wang Yu-ting comes from a wealthy, politically powerful Tainan family. In fact, according to public servant property-declaration statements filed with the Control Yuan, Wang is the wealthiest unmarried member of President Ma's cabinet, with more than NT$200 million in personal assets.

A child of privilege, Wang has never herself lived in poverty. But when she was studying in the economic law program at Peking University a dozen-odd years ago, she toured the mainland with classmates. Her explorations took her to Xi'an, Huashan, Weihaiwei, Chengdu, and the Three Gorges, and saw her traveling in the cheap seats on trains, busses, and ships, staying in hostel dormitories that cost just RMB3-5 per night (about NT$14-25), and even bathing in water from the Yangtze.

Wang mentions a time when she and her classmates decided to spend an extra day in Weihaiwei, but had no room reserved for the night. They ended up having to squeeze into a dirty little hotel that lacked a bathroom. "The blanket was mildewed and stank terribly, but we were exhausted and just slept in our clothes. We scooted out of there as quickly as we could the next morning," she laughs.

Wang's classmates wanted to spend more time in Shandong, but Wang herself had class the next day and headed back alone. Walking by the harbor, she spent most of her remaining cash on a bundle of tasty, cheap rolls for the trip back to Beijing. Her return ended up being delayed by a flat tire on her bus. Things got worse when the bus driver dumped all the passengers on the outskirts of Beijing and zoomed off.

Wang, still traveling alone, had no choice but to hop on a minibus for the journey back to her dormitory. Unfortunately, the money she had in her pocket wasn't enough to get her even halfway there. She had to swallow her pride and beg the driver to wait at the entrance to her dorm while she ran inside to get some money. The driver, recognizing that she was a student, initially just wanted to forgive the fare and told to pay whatever she had on her. But, unwilling to take advantage of him, Wang insisted on paying the full fare.

"This experience taught me that you should always keep a little extra," she says. "Just because you take something for granted, it doesn't mean you can't be caught out by circumstances."

Wang's many experiences with traveling on the cheap while studying in mainland China have been a great help to her since her surprising entry into the political arena. At the age of 25, she became the youngest ever member of the Legislative Yuan, a record that still stands today.

She says that politics and travel are much the same-things are always cropping up that must be dealt with immediately, testing your ability to cope. Travel also helped her with her Taiwanese, which she used not to speak well. She says that traveling around the mainland meeting people with different accents, personalities, and points of view made her a better language learner and more adaptable person.

Fate seemingly tossed her into the political arena. Lightning struck again after she lost a reelection bid, when President Ma chose her as the youngest female member of his cabinet. Wang views her work in government as a journey as well. "I have so many interesting and exciting things ahead of me to experience and learn!"