Hey future friends！This is Duanling from China! As someone passionate about meeting people from around the world, I’m an “exchange maniac” in friends’ eyes. In my junior year, I went to Hong Kong University for an exchange semester before attending a Global Learning Semester at Duke Kunshan. I graduated from Peking University in 2017 and moved to Dubai UAE for a business training program for a year. Now I'm back in Beijing! Having participated in numerous international programs, I've gradually come to realize that much of the misunderstanding and conflict we have today among different cultures emerge from a pure lack of communication. Therefore, I want to explore and learn about other cultures first hand by couchsurfing and communicating with locals. Meanwhile, I also hope, by talking to me, my future hosts and guests can understand China better .

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

As the ancient Chinese saying goes, 有朋自远方来，不亦乐乎 ，it's a great pleasure to meet friends from afar. And I think couchsurfing is a great way to meet like-minded people ;)

Interests

• cycling
• hiking
• swimming
• badminton

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

As President of English Debate Team at my university, I led the team to win all Central China English Debate Tournaments in my sophmore year and eventually brought the National First Prize of China's most prestigious English debate contest back to our university after almost a decade.

What I Can Share with Hosts

As a freelancing interpreter, I’ve been able to meet with people from different walks of life such as academicians, NBA player, Grammy nominee, Backstreet Boys, the U.S. Consul General in Wuhan, university presidents etc. In addition, I’m fairly interested in media and communications, which I believe is driven by my desire to talk and write. I've previously interned/worked with China Radio International, Southern People Weekly and Microsoft Research Asia, where I have interviewed people from a wide range of backgrounds. And I would like to share with hosts my takeaways from and reflection on these conversations and experiences.

Countries I’ve Visited

Czech Republic, Germany, United Arab Emirates, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

China, United Arab Emirates