The American journalist Nora Waln met and befriended Wanrong in Tianjin in 1927. Waln described Wanrong as a person of wit, intelligence, and remarkable beauty. Wanrong told Waln of the Manchu wedding pageant when she married Puyi in 1922, of their two years of living in the Forbidden City, and of their being driven out by Feng Yuxiang in 1924. Hu Siyuan who taught Wanrong classical literature commented that "she was wise and eager to learn, quick-witted and inquisitive; she always made a thorough inquiry of the ups and downs of ancient events, had a profound understanding of the texts. My admiration of her was beyond description. If she kept on teaching herself in the palace, I believed that she would be able to refer to the past for the present and then contributed to the wise governance of the emperor."