I grew up in China, went to England for my undergrad, now I'm attending grad school in New York, enjoying the city while trying to figure out how brains work 🧠👩‍🔬🐣

My friends describe me as a very bubbly, friendly, curious and funny person, and I'm always excited to meet new people!

✈️I love solo traveling, as I get to meet people from different walks of life and hear about their life stories.

The first time I solo travelled was when I was 16, I flew from China to the West Coast of America and backpacked across national parks for 20 days. Despite knowing very little English back then, I met some life-long friends on the road. It was a wild but truly life-changing journey, and I learnt to appreciate views that are very different from mine, and to "stay curious, and not judgmental".

This inspired me to do many more solo travels later on, and I made some very fond memories in Alaska, Mexico, and the "forbidden" part of China - Tibet and Xinjiang.

Interests

• photography
• flowers
• piano
• backpacking
• ecology
• science
• birding
• cooking and baking
• chinese chess
• building things
• chinese tea ceremony
• neurosurgery
• coffee brewing

Music, Movies, and Books

🎶 I play the piano, recently I’m getting more into impressionist classical music, and have been learning to play some Debussy, Chopin and Maurice Ravel
🎬 Some of my all-time favourite movies are: the Life of Pi, Babylon, Interstellar, Spirited Away, Pachinko, Harry Potter, and the theory of everything.
📚 I mostly read non-fiction books in natural history, philosophy of science, sociology, though I do start trying to read more fictions and literature

Teach, Learn, Share

I'm a memory researcher, and our lab uses Chickadees as a model to understand episodic memory. I’m always excited to teach people about all the cool brain, consciousness and bird stuff. The only issue is I might not be able to shut up once you get me started..!

What I Can Share with Hosts

🍱 I cook well, especially Asian cuisines. Let me know what you like to eat, and I will see what I can do.

🍵 I'm very enthusiastic about tea and coffee brewing, and I'm bringing with me a collection of some very fine speciality Chinese teas (chá) that you most likely have never tried before; I can host a proper tea ceremony in your home :)

Countries I’ve Visited

Cambodia, China, England, France, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, Scotland, South Korea, Switzerland, Thailand, United States, Wales

Countries I’ve Lived In

China, United Kingdom, United States