I was born in Haining, a small city quietly tucked between Hangzhou and Shanghai. Though it’s not widely known, Haining holds a special place in my heart—not only because it’s where my story began, but also because it’s the hometown of my favorite rapper, Pharaoh (法老). Perhaps there’s something in the air there—a quiet defiance, a poetic undercurrent—that shapes people who are drawn to words, rhythm, and introspection.
Growing up in Haining meant growing up with wide skies, the ebb and flow of the Qiantang River, and a life that moved gently between tradition and change. There’s a kind of honesty in small cities, where everything feels closer to the ground and somehow more real. Maybe that’s why Pharaoh’s lyrics, often raw and reflective, resonate so deeply—they echo the spirit of a place that shaped us both in different ways.
I went to college in Hangzhou in 2013, and from that moment on, the city became more than just a place I lived—it became the backdrop of an entire chapter of my life. From 2013 to 2024, I spent eleven years in Hangzhou, years filled with growth, uncertainty, laughter, and quiet reflection.
I’ve been living in Coventry for nearly a year now—tucked away in the heart of England, this small city has quietly become a part of me. At first glance, it doesn’t scream charm the way more famous places might. But Coventry has a quiet kind of beauty—the kind you only discover when you slow down enough to notice.
I don’t know where the next chapter of my journey will take me. But I know that when I leave Coventry, a piece of it will travel with me.
Travel, to me, is not just about moving from one place to another—it's a quiet unfolding of the self. With each unfamiliar street and every fleeting conversation with a stranger, I collect pieces of the world and, somehow, return a little more whole. There’s something quietly poetic about getting lost in a city where no one knows your name—where you can simply observe, breathe, and be.
In motion, I find stillness. In the foreign, I rediscover the familiar. And in each sunset painted over a skyline I may never see again, I am reminded that beauty does not ask to be understood—only witnessed.