2017 - Present

Los Angeles

Home sweet home. Everybody’s very happy ‘cause the sun is shining all the time.

There’s no place like L.A. that is a constellation of microclimates and microcosms, a library of dozens of special collections. A 20-minute drive can bring a temperature change of 15 degrees. Crossing an intersection can feel like crossing a border between countries. Nobody can depict and capture this vibrant, diverse, and sprawling city of nearly 4 million residents: so many words, so many perspectives.

“While the sun washes Los Angeles’ disparate corners in the same glow, it casts vastly difference shadows and highlights a variety of characteristics depending on what street you might be standing or driving on.” Yes, that’s Los Angeles. And I am gonna stay here with California Dreamin’.

2014 - 2017

San Francisco

“If you’re going to San Francisco, be sure to wear some flowers in your hair. If you’re going to San Francisco, you’re gonna meet some gentle people there…”

Truth, being said as the lyrics.

I moved to San Francisco to pursue a Master's degree after living and working in Beijing for almost 6 years. If Beijing is the city where I found out what I love, San Francisco is the place where my dream starts. I met tons of talents in the school classes and learned the knowledge that I’ve never heard. I spent nights in the lab on my thesis and walked in the UC Berkeley and Stanford campus to meet new friends who I argued with on the design trends and techniques. I went to the tech giants campus for the free lunch and told myself that I would be one part of them someday. I am eager to learn and grow my brain.

2007 - 2014

Beijing

Crowded in a good way, populated, and developed are my impressions of Beijing. I was 17 years old when I first time traveled alone to Beijing by taking a 14-hour overnight train. I still remember that it was an extremely hot summer night and each roomette had 4 beds. However, I didn’t sleep even for a second because I was too excited. I just leaned on the window and stared outside of it for the whole night. “Wow” was my reaction to almost every place I went to in the first year living in Beijing. This city just blew my mind and opened my eyes. Everything just ran differently than in my hometown. I started my career in a design studio in my early 20s and spent most of the time creating interfaces for mobile and website apps. I loved doing that and had lots of passion for it. After working for almost one year, I finally knew that I had a fancy title, called UX UI designer. It sounds miserable, right? Yes, I was literally like a “Tubie 土鳖” in Chinese, a nickname for the little-city-fostered kid. Nevertheless, I did know what I want. I want more.

1989 - 2007

Dalian

I was born in a small city, Dalian located in Northeast China. It has a population of 6 million when I was a kid in the early 2000s, which is 2 million smaller than New York’s. Well, when I say it’s a small Chinese city. It might be big in the USA. What my hometown looks like? The city has no that many tall buildings but the streets look clean and things are organized. People trust each other and talk to you with smiling faces. When I turned 16 years old, my birthday wish was that I want to go to a bigger place and I want to see if the rest of the world is the same as my hometown. Yes, I wanted to go to the capital city, Beijing.