My Three Years at Xiaomi · A Handful of Sunset

Before I begin: As I was writing this, I realized it was turning into a bit of a running log. I thought about it and figured, no central thread? So be it. I’ll just treat it as a record. There are loads of photos throughout, so you can browse it as a little digital side dish.

At the beginning of 20, while wandering around Beijing on my own, I made a special trip to Xiaomi Science and Technology Park, changing subway lines to get there. I remember it must have been around noon. There were lots of people on campus: some chatting, some kicking a shuttlecock around, and some strolling around. Standing outside, I felt a bit like an outsider looking in.

Later, after a bit of… well, you could say luck played a part, though I did put in some effort too, I became one of the insiders myself. I remember discussing my start date with HR after getting the offer and even mentioning that I’d visited the park before. Hahaha, you can imagine how excited I was when that offer came through.

I remember my first day as an intern—it must have been around mid-December. Sitting in the new-hire orientation room, I could hardly believe I was there. Before long, the room filled up. Honestly, it felt a bit like a meeting at university, without any of the tension of entering the workplace. The orientation was pretty much over in no time, and I’d struck up conversations with a few people nearby. We agreed to go explore the Xiaomi cafeteria together afterward. My first impression of the cafeteria was: wow, this is seriously crowded. Finding a seat after getting your food was genuinely painful, and finding somewhere a whole group could sit together made the difficulty rise exponentially. Luckily, we soon found a spot in a corner with exactly four seats. Then we ate and chatted… Of course, I absolutely had to take a photo to record my first meal at Xiaomi. Credit where it’s due: the food at Xiaomi’s cafeteria really is excellent.

After picking up my office supplies that afternoon, I was taken to my department. Once my manager assigned me a seat, I started setting up my development environment and getting familiar with the project. I might be a bit socially anxious—I barely spoke to the colleagues sitting on either side of me. In the end, a young woman next to me asked whether I’d gotten my employee badge yet, then took me along to get it sorted out, top up my meal card, and handle the other formalities. She was pretty much my first guide at Xiaomi. Of course, we later became really good friends too. Honestly, I was pretty lost during my first week at the park. Sometimes I couldn’t even tell which building I was in. Walking around the outside, it doesn’t seem that big, but the inside really is huge. It takes at least a few days to get a handle on which building and floor is which.

I remember Christmas was coming up then, and the campus had Christmas trees and other decorations. The festive atmosphere was turned all the way up.

After that, I gradually settled into the work. Xiaomi generally assigns you a mentor, and it was through that arrangement that I met the most incredible person I’d encountered in my twenty-something years of life up to that point. No exaggeration.

Honestly, I was pretty busy when I first started interning. As I remember it, almost every day I couldn’t slip out until after nine at night, but I could live with that. The people around me were all seriously impressive, and I really did learn a lot during that time. It was also one of the periods when I grew the fastest. Time always flies in situations like that, and before I knew it, the New Year of 21 was almost here. The park started another round of redecorating. I have to say, big tech companies really go all out on the atmosphere every time.

Oh, right—I remember I couldn’t go home for the New Year in 21 for various reasons. The company even provided a New Year’s Eve dinner, and I think they handed out some things too. That was genuinely thoughtful. I really felt Xiaomi’s care.

The New Year break flew by. On the first day back, I even got a back-to-work red envelope from the boss. A nice little perk, hahaha.

I remember the official WeChat account ran an event once, and I went out of my way to leave a comment. I never expected that comment would eventually… (Haha, keep reading and you’ll find out.)

After the New Year, the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month was right around the corner. For this traditional Chinese holiday, they went all out on the atmosphere too. Every lantern had a riddle underneath it, and there were prizes for getting them right!

One morning on my way to work, I happened to run into the boss filming a promotional video.

Before I knew it, it was 4/6 (month/day), time for the annual Mi Fan Festival. This special festival for Xiaomi fans also meant a makeover for the company, along with a celebration show and other events.

Of course, I also snapped some sneaky photos of the boss, hahaha.

Oh, and on certain holidays, they’d usually prepare late-night snacks for everyone. Some were things I’d barely tried before. Pretty great—the only downside was how easy it was to gain weight, hahaha. This coconut rice below was really good. I still don’t know where it came from.

I remember seeing gaming devices in the connecting walkway once as I was leaving work. All I can say is, that was a bit unexpected.

On 21/4/25 (year/month/day)—I’ve forgotten what the occasion was—the company held something like a university club recruitment fair. Everyone could try out different activities and join a club right away if they were interested. Honestly, it really opened my eyes.

This little group singing Are You Ok was clearly the biggest attention-grabber there, hahaha. Have a listen—it was actually pretty good.

Three days later, for another event I can no longer remember, they put on a real-time holographic projection of a game, projecting it straight onto an office building. Honestly, I’d never seen anything like that.

In early May of 21, my internship ended, and I had to go back to school to get ready for graduation. My happy days as an intern were coming to a close.

But how could I wrap things up without squeezing in one more meal at the Xiaomi cafeteria? No hype, no hate—the Xiaomi cafeteria really is good.

From when I returned to school in May until around early July, I had the absolute happiest stretch of my life so far. I’ll come back and write about that another time, hahaha.

In early July, I graduated as planned and reported to the company as a full-time employee. Sure, the laid-back days of school were behind me, but graduate hires had a program called the Stars Program, where we could go to Yizhuang for a week of training—or, really, a week of rest. We waited and waited, but before our group’s turn came around, the Mid-Autumn Festival arrived. For another traditional holiday, the park got another makeover. And of course, how could there not be Mid-Autumn gift boxes?

I remember my desk was moved next to a window for a while. Every day was so nice: I’d occasionally look out at the scenery and slack off a little. What could be better? But I hadn’t been there long before our whole team moved desks again.

Not long afterward, it was finally our group’s turn for the Stars Program. Basically, it was classes during the day and free time at night—and the training was paid! But given my line of work, I often skipped class during the day to go outside, discuss requirements, and write code. Fortunately, that only lasted a few days. I remember one instructor telling us to cherish those seven days of training and treat them as a holiday for ourselves, because it would be hard to get such a long break again later. The more time passes, the more deeply I relate to those words.

Every day, I’d be here with the backend folks, going over requirements and fixing bugs. In the evenings, our group pooled our meal allowances and treated ourselves to a big meal. Life was good.

And just like that, the short week of training ended, and it was time to get back to the grind. Not long after returning to the park, I got a surprise: an invitation to a Xiaomi launch event. Oh my god, for a longtime Xiaomi fan, that was such an honor. Seriously awesome.

Whenever I watched launch events before, I always wondered how the bosses could remember everything they needed to say. Turns out there’s a huge teleprompter at the back, hahaha.

Of course, I also took the opportunity to do a bit of celebrity chasing at the launch.

Later, I was lucky enough to attend the K50 launch too.

Soon, the annual Double Eleven shopping festival arrived. Xiaomi usually holds a wrap-up meeting after Double Eleven each year, with pretty much all the senior executives there in person. An absolutely perfect chance to do some celebrity chasing, hahaha. This year was no exception: as midnight arrived, the executives started coming in one after another.

Before going, I naively thought I could just walk up and get a photo with them. I hadn’t expected to nearly fail to get through the door, let alone get close enough for a photo. I’d really gotten ahead of myself, hahaha. Still, to be fair, the atmosphere was fantastic throughout. It was definitely worth going.

Another thing afterward that really stuck with me was March 8, when the company put up a whole flower wall to celebrate Women’s Day. It was gorgeous. They’d really put thought into it. Thumbs up.

Oh, right—one day I walked past someone’s desk and spotted a Bilibili one-million-followers commemorative plaque, hahaha.

They also hold food festivals and things internally from time to time. For the food festival, you can check out this post:

The Joys of the Food Street at the Park

Soon, Christmas came around again. I feel like the Christmas tree in 22 looked even better than the previous ones.

The company also has two special permanent employees, Wangcai and Cherry. Apparently, they used to be stray dogs in the area before the company adopted them. They’ve definitely won at dog life. You can sometimes run into them on campus and go give them a few pets. They’re so well behaved.

Speaking of which, I have to mention the cat café in the park. You don’t just have to admire them from afar—if you want, you can actually go inside and pet the cats. Absolutely the best place to de-stress during the workday.

Finally, the annual Double Eleven came around again. This time, I’d learned my lesson and got in early. When it was time for the final group photo, I used what I’d learned about the routine last time and ran straight to the back to wait for Mr. Lei to walk back after the photo. While everyone else was still dispersing from the group shot, Mr. Lei was heading back, and I doubled back and managed to get a few photos with him. Hahaha, freaking awesome. Later, I realized Mr. Lu had even made it into one of them. That was a seriously big win. So happy.

Honestly, Mr. Lei is really tall.

Then came 2024, and Xiaomi launched its car as scheduled, which meant we got to see the su7 right away. Honestly, it did look pretty cool.

Of course, the park got another makeover too. The atmosphere was turned all the way up.

A few months after the New Year, I reached my third anniversary at the company. Well, I’ll leave it here for now.

Here are a few behind-the-scenes bits.

What’s working life without overtime? I remember leaving work once to find the streets completely empty. A scattering of lights shone out through the office windows, while my lonely car was all that remained by the roadside, as if the whole city were silently waiting for tomorrow to arrive.