My origin name is Chengyuan (ask me and I will tell you how to pronounce it when we meet)

PLZ CALL ME Antoine (an-two-one) or Yusuf (‎يوسف) if you find my origin name hard to pronounce.

Originally I was born in a Muslim family in a small town (400m residents) in the middle part of China. I started my first solo travel to western europe when I was 18. I lived in Beijing, Shanghai for years and I moved to the UK in 2022 to study and started to travel more.

Right now work and live in Southampton.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Meet someone interesting and unique, most importantly experience local life. And this helps me to understand this world and myself better.

For me the spirit of this community is about sharing and exploring. The world 🌍 🌎 is a goldmine, and here is the pickax.

Interests

I’m a super easygoing person who is absolutely open minded and respectful.

Meeting new people and sharing thoughts or enjoying interesting conversations is one of my biggest quirks 🤔

Movie Enthusiast 🎥

All Arts 🎨🎭

I played 🎹 for over 10 years, although it gradually faded away cause I don’t got my own piano now. (I want to learn other traditional instruments from multiple regions)

I love ⚽️ sadly I couldn’t play anymore since I had a serious injury in my right legs and knees. Still enjoy watching it especially in the stadiums or pubs and surrounding by crazy funs, would be great to watch home games in different cities.

Mostly importantly, I love low-budget traveling 🧳 to different places and live as a local instead of a tourist there. TBH, Instead of browsing all the popular sights or tourist spots, I would rather immerse myself into a local day. I find immense joy in learning about local traditions, values.

Equally, I am passionate about sharing my own experiences with others. We can foster a deeper understanding of the world around us through open and meaningful exchanges. The collision of thoughts and ideas during these interactions genuinely exhilarates me.

• culture
• books
• photography
• drinking
• movies
• swimming
• languages
• food
• football

Music, Movies, and Books

🎬 I love all the things about movie. Or “Movie Enthusiast” I am. I watched 1000+ movies all over the world, horror, feature and art movies are my favorite.

Extremely into movie from France, Poland, Former USSR.

🎥 Top 10 directors: Krzysztof Kieślowski , François Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard, Ingmar Bergman, Emir Kusturiča, Pedro Almodóvar, Wim Wenders, Federico Fellini, Theodoros Angelopoulos, Robert Bresson

📖 Currently reading:
The Brothers Karamazov
Ibn Tufayl’s Hayy Ibn Yaqzan: A Philosophical Tale
The unbearable lightness of being ( third times)

🎵Musics:
I listened to all kinds of music that you could imagine.
Would be really cool if you could share me with some regional music of yours.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Solo trip to Syria during Eid Al-Adha and had an amazing time 🇸🇾
Watched the great Persepolis (Iranian Arsenal) comeback in Azadi Stadium 🇮🇷
Drove through Middle and Northern Serbia, dealt with six different Serbian official departments to get our car back from the police within half day 🇷🇸
Chased sunset in Wadi-Rum Jordan 🇯🇴
Slept for one hour in the basement of the National Museum of Beirut (without being caught by the security guards still counted as amazing) 🇱🇧
Watched 13 movies within 3 days in Cannes Film Festival 🇫🇷
Founded my own Film Studio in my home town and operated in 6 locations 🇨🇳🇬🇧🇫🇷
Worked for TikTok as an intern to decide which of you could become the top influencer (ask me for inside info🤓) 🇨🇳

Teach, Learn, Share

I love lingustics! And I am a fast learner! It would be really great to learn other languages always (currently crack Arabic)

I collect stories: my adventures around the world in exchange for yours.

If you love Chinese cuisine, I am the right person you should host ;)

Everything I know about China, I found China is still mysterious to most of outsiders. If you are curious about how it works don’t hesitate to ask.

Also, find in the “My interests” section to find out more things we could share!

What I Can Share with Hosts

Foods, Laughter, Stories, Friendships.

Having a general fun time. If someone host me then they become parts of my trip which is the most precious thing for my travelings.

I want to share, exchange and enjoy great conversations. Only a fraction of travelling is physical, the rest is completely in the new connections you make. Although I am totally fine if you rather not be disrupted or just have some simple fun time.

I am polite and tidy, respect others’ privacy and willing to hear different voices and most importantly sharing.

I can cook, Chinese food is the one thing you definitely won’t regret trying out 💯

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, China, Cyprus, Egypt, France, Germany, Hungary, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Poland, Qatar, Russian Federation, Serbia, South Korea, Spain, Syrian Arab Republic, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

China, United Kingdom