Feel the road. Keep its stories.

Latest posts · Page 4

Life
Life

The Temptation of Going Home

Without even realizing it, once I started school, I began leaving early and getting home late. In high school, I went home once a week; at university, once every six months. Then I started working, thinking that having money would mean I could go home more often, but it turned into once a year. Sometimes it's a choice you make because you don't have much of a choice. I haven't been feeling great lately and have kept wanting to go home for a visit, so I bought a ticket for Friday…

Life
Life

A Little Oasis in Beijing’s Food Desert

For anyone living away from home, surely there’s nothing more comforting than being able to eat hometown food while you’re far away. As someone from Shanxi trying to make a life in Beijing, I can count my trips home each year on one hand, so chances to eat food from home are few and far between too. On a recommendation from someone from back home, I discovered the Beijing liaison office for Yuncheng, Shanxi…

Life
Life

The Joys of the Science and Technology Park Food Street

This July, with temperatures hitting nearly 40 degrees every day, Xiaomi Science and Technology Park celebrated its fourth anniversary, complete with four days of food street treats that brought a little “cool relief” to the scorching weather. As a Xiaomi employee, how could I pass up this perfect chance to treat myself to a few good meals? There were lots of anniversary activities, but as a bit of a foodie, my home turf had to be…

TravelInner Mongolia
Travel · Inner Mongolia

Heading North to the Grasslands—Ulanqab—3 (Back to Beijing and the Grind)

Our trip was pretty much drawing to a close. Even though the journey had been quite tiring, I’d really enjoyed myself. Little did we know that a small episode was waiting for us that day, one that would even give the whole trip another little peak of excitement. After a night’s rest, we drove first thing in the morning to a shaomai place we’d picked out in advance (finally…

TravelInner Mongolia
Travel · Inner Mongolia

Heading North to the Grasslands—Ulanqab—2 (Wild Grasslands)

It gets pretty cold in a yurt at night, so I’d suggest bringing a jacket or something. Having spent a night in one, let me start with my impressions. First off, I wouldn’t really recommend it. The conditions aren’t that great. Washing up and all that is fine, but the smaller yurts apparently don’t have private bathrooms, so you have to go outside to use the toilet. Seriously inconvenient…

TravelInner Mongolia
Travel · Inner Mongolia

Heading North to the Grasslands—Ulanqab—1 (A Dragon Boat Festival Breather)

A Preface Lately, I’ve felt decidedly “unambitious,” like I’ve lost my sense of direction. Every day after work, I come home and either play games or read for fun—anything but study 🙈🙈🙈. Then I took some time to think it over. I guess I haven’t really made any proper plans since starting my first job. I’ve been coasting every day, but I haven’t given up entirely. The work I…

TechnologyExperiences
Technology · Experiences

IMAX, Gigantic IMAX

One afternoon during the workweek, I was slacking off when I noticed a colleague had posted a comparison chart of IMAX screens in Beijing. Seeing it completely changed my idea of IMAX—I had no idea IMAX screens could be this huge! So I decided to spend the weekend checking out the biggest one on the chart: the laser IMAX at the China National Film Museum. …

Life
Life

Beijing Weather: Where Do I Even Begin?

Summer nights in Beijing this year have none of that lovely coolness they used to have, so you can imagine how hot it must be at noon, in the afternoon, and even in the morning. Seriously, I’m almost at my limit. I vaguely remember that a couple of days ago, after work, around nine at night, I think, it was still in the thirties Celsius. Wave after wave of hot wind—it really was unbearable. I just wanted to crawl into a freezer. Weather this hot makes me…

Life
Life

A Few Notes on Renting in Beijing

As far as I can remember, ever since I started renting after graduation, I’ve always thought finding a landlord directly was really, really hard, so I’ve always gone straight to an agent for help finding a place. Graduation season is here again, which also means the lease on our current place is about to run out, and it’s time to start looking for our next place to land. This time, we’re planning to skip the agents and walk around some nearby residential complexes to see if we can…

TravelChengdu
Travel · Chengdu

Chengdu Travel Journal—5 (Final Installment)

I stayed up late last night watching 2023 Apple WWDC. Maybe I was just too sleepy, but the iOS, iPadOS, and macOS updates at the start didn't feel as hardcore as last year's. To me, they seemed more focused on UI interactions. Plus, I hadn't seen the M3 chip I'd been hoping for, so halfway through I just…