Dear Host,

Have you heard of the song “the laughing policeman” by Charles Penrose? Guess what? I’m also called Charles and I laugh louder than that. But don’t worry, I go to sleep early and won’t wake you up with my insane laughter.

My friends call me “noodle king” because I navigated countless (at least 100+) noodle restaurants in Chengdu and interviewed the noodle shop owners to learn more about the stories behind these delicious tastes.

I also sing day and night: humming Chinese ballad melodies to dancing to random notes I popped up with. (A secret shhh–I was knocked out in my school’s the Voice competition for three years, but I finally won the fourth year singing Sam Smith’s Stay With Me! I am also singing in an Acapella group in Chicago)

Wait a second, I nearly forgot to mention that I am an Instagram poet. I will memorize meaningful details from our interactions and piece them together in a short poem–I will for sure write a poem for you when I am leaving in memory of our friendship!

HAHAHAHAHA,
The Laughing Noodle King

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

When I started using couchsurfing, it was because that I disliked traveling being a tourist. I wanted to meet the locals and learn about their culture in a more meaningful manner.

Now I have traveled using couchsurfing in the past year and I have had great experiences. The interactions I had have taught me so much about the strength and kindness of being a human and I am looking forward to learning more about the world and sharing whatever I could.

Interests

• photography
• meditation
• music
• guitar
• hiking
• languages
• philosophy
• laughing
• sunrise
• tasting food

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

My mother tongue is Gyalrong dialect, which is only passed down orally without written words. It is now on the border of extinction because no young people are learning and speaking it. So I spent three summers together with my grandma to learn and record the Gyalrong Tibetan dialect with Chinese pinyin, English alphabet, and voice memos. Looking back, I felt proud because I always know how languages are central to a culture!

I also held a public debate with my dad--I also livestreamed the debate to 300 people watching online. The debate was about whether men can grow long hair. Finally, I beated my dad and he allowed me to grow my hair which he used to think to be so feminine for a boy:( Debate saved my hair!

Another thing that I’m proud of is that I initiated a program to help Tibetan kids in my hometown to gain better educational resources by designing courses, i.e., critical thinking etc. Education should be equal and I mean it.

The last experience I wanted to add on here and encourage y'all to try it out is the vipassana meditation retreat I have done in a mountain in central Mexico. I meditated on the mountains for ten days without speaking and access to my phone. It has taught me a lot and I am eager to talk to you about it!

Teach, Learn, Share

Right now in my college, I am majoring in a unique major called "Fundamentals" which requires me to raise a question and read fundamental literature across the world to solve it. My question is "What is the unconscious?" So we could talk about different religions, psychology, philosophy, whatever you want!

What I Can Share with Hosts

I went to India for United World College, a high school, with students of 60+ nationalities, so I am keen to share my experiences with different cultures; I also laugh a lot and used to be a peer mental supporter, so I am on for you 24/7 if you need a listener to your stories; maybe we can go for sunrises together because I used to be addicted to sunrise every Saturday at 5 AM (you can see my photos in the gallery!); also I can make you an Origami and write you a sweet poem on the last day!

Countries I’ve Visited

Egypt, India, Iran, Japan, Mexico, Nepal, Puerto Rico, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

China, India, United States