By CLAYTON PARK

Charles Hadrann has long held this personal belief: "If you follow the path in life you're supposed to follow, you really do meet your fate."

As Hadrann discovered, it can also lead to finding a mate.

Of course, that's not what the owner of Wright Bros. Cycle Works in Fremont had in mind when he set out to visit Shanghai, China, in late April 1994.

For Hadrann, an avid student of the martial arts, the purpose in making the trip was to attend a Wu Shu (a form of Kung Fu) tournament along with his martial arts instructor and a fellow student.

Fate intervened when the other student happened to strike up a conversation with an attractive girl who worked in a gift shop near the hotel where the three traveling companions were staying. The student invited the girl to dinner that night with Hadrann and their teacher, suggesting that she bring her sister along, too.

That sister turned out to be Liu Jiong, an economic reporter for a Chinese newspaper in Beijing who just happened to be on her vacation and was in town visiting her family.

Jiong, who accepted the dinner invitation, wound up being seated next to Hadrann at the restaurant.

"A funny thing happened," recalls Hadrann. "The waiter asked Jiong 'what does your husband want for dinner?" looking at Hadrann. "She said to me: 'he thinks you're my husband!'

"That became our little joke," says Hadrann.

It also served as an ice-breaker for the "couple." Later that evening, Hadrann asked Jiong if she would be his translator/guide during his stay in Shanghai.

Their friendship quickly blossomed into romance, although Hadrann didn't realize how deeply he had been smitten by Jiong until he returned to the U.S. and watched a videotape taken of the two of them together.

"That's when I knew I loved her," he says, adding that he became determined to see her again.

His initial attempts to call her long distance at her parents' home were unsuccessful as she had already returned to her job in Beijing.

Jiong says she eventually learned of Hadrann's efforts when her mother called to inform her: "Some foreign man has been trying to call you."

They soon began corresponding regularly by mail as well as conversing via long-distance telephone on a weekly basis.

Hadrann's frustrations in attempting to arrange for a visa that would allow Jiong to visit America prompted him to take a more radical step: proposing marriage, after only two months. "It hit me like an inspiration," he says. "I knew that ultimately that I wanted to ask her to marry me anyway."

After consulting with her family, at Hadrann's insistence, Jiong said yes.

The next month, Hadrann was back in Shanghai, this time to meet Jiong's family and to make wedding plans.

He flew back to China a third time to officially tie the knot in a traditional Chinese wedding on Oct. 6.

But Jiong's difficulties in obtaining a visa continued, resulting in an 11 month wait before finally coming to Seattle to join her new husband. The couple spent their honeymoon in the San Juan Islands.

Today, Charles and Jiong (who now goes by the name "Claire") are the proud parents of a beautiful 26-month-old daughter, Wing, who is already learning to speak three languages: English and two Chinese dialects - Mandarin and a form of Chinese spoken in Shanghai.

Hadrann admits that getting married so quickly may sound crazy to some, but he insists that, for he and his wife, it was definitely the right choice. "It was our fate to meet, get married and live our life together," he says with a smile. "I'm more convinced of it everyday."