Fei Man’er (1920–1984) was an early Chinese soprano and violinist who graduated from the Hangzhou National Academy of Art as one of the first students in its newly founded music department. She was the first Chinese musician to obtain the Highest Teaching Diploma from London’s Trinity College of Music, through its Shanghai examination center, and is believed to be the first Chinese soprano to perform Madama Butterfly on the European opera stage, with performances across Belgium, Luxembourg, Brazil, France, and other countries in Europe and the Americas. Yet systematic academic research on her life and career remains scarce. Drawing upon extensive archival materials, newspapers, and music reviews in both Chinese and Western languages, this paper reconstructs Fei Man’er’s musical trajectory after her study in Belgium beginning in 1947, and traces her transnational musical practices. Within this context, taking Fei’s case as a point of departure, the study examines the experiences of early twentieth-century Chinese music students overseas, focusing on their education, professional development, and cultural adaptation. It also explores the strategies of survival and identity negotiation employed by Chinese musicians within Western artistic systems. Through this micro-historical case, the paper argues that such overseas experiences played a crucial role in shaping Chinese musical modernity and offer new insights into the reciprocal transformation between Chinese and Western musical cultures.