I'm a 27-year-old who's traveled to 25 countries and lived in 3 - all numbers counting. Can be summarized by a line from "Chicago" - a real artistic guy, sensitive, a painter, was always trying to find himself.

My friend describes me as "intense, but secretly nice." The word "intense" mainly refers to my adaptation to the hectic life I've been leading. I promote education empowerment through technology. Now a senior executive at a 1,000-person tech startup called ClassIn, where I lead its global expansion worldwide.

I hail from Peking University with a philosophy degree. A humanities student from an elitist institution - where you live in this bubble of having everything handed to you on a plate, so all you do is read books - tons of them - I don't have lots of impressive survival skills to offer. But I'm a pretty good conversationalist and always ready to learn about the spectacular life you have been living.

I read and reply to 100% of the requests you send over. And unfortunately, then decline more than 85% of them. To check out some tips that I believed to be useful for successful request-writing, see below.

SOME (UNVERIFIED) TIPS
FOR WRITING SUCCESSFUL CS REQUESTS

- In your request, introduce yourself in more than 100 words, either in soothing, logically constructed sentences or in bullet points, so that it gives the host some quick details to assess compatibility. DO bother to set up a profile with enough specific content to humanize you, especially if your references aren't that many. Hosts are here with a giver mentality, but they just can't give to anyone. After all, until that fateful moment at the door when we welcome you to our space, we remain "online strangers" to each other.

- In your request, state clearly why you would like to stay *with this host*, not *at this host's place*. Make at least one try at describing the host's interests, expertise, traveled places, hosting preferences, or career credentials, and say why it/they matter(s) to you. Nobody likes to be dehumanized down to the same level as their residential building.

- Be polite and humble, as is a rule of life. One way to show this is to end your request not with a "Can you host me, question mark," but a "Thank you for your time, period." The phrasing is only a minor detail, but it sometimes has a major impact on the reader. Another is to clearly say you allow for flexibility on the host's part if your stay is more than 3 nights.

- You definitely want to be upfront about everything that may be inconvenient to the hos: carrying a lot of bags, needing to use washing machines, no internet upon arrival, late-night arrival, being sick, etc. Hosts are always down to help and super understanding of the mounting challenges facing travelers in their home cities, but they usually don't like surprises that take up much of their day.

- If you intend to say you'll bring over something as a thank-you gesture, don't offer anything other than good company, light cooking or a small but adorable house gift. The host won't really remember you made that promise by the time of arrival, and they won't care at all if you did have it with you, but they would be really happy just reading that you had goodwill.

HAVE FUN COUCHSURFING!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Simple. I believe that a city is only a summary of the life of its people. My experience tells me being around friendly locals is among the most enjoyable experiences you can expect while on the road. Oh, and, I don't mind sleeping on the couch, or any other surfaces as long as it's safe and clean.

Interests

• photography
• concerts
• musical theatre

Music, Movies, and Books

Guess you can take this list as a non-exhaustive endorsement:

Music:
- Pop (Synth), Alt Rock, Tropical House, Gospel Rock (I know, it's weird)...
- Singer-Songwriter-Producer: Monarchy, Denny White, Bleachers, Jon Bellion
- Pop, RnB, Urban Alt, Classical-Pop, and Soul: Phil Good, Gaga, Tom Grennan, Gallant, Josh Groban, Griffin Oskar, Gary Clarke Jr., Jacob Banks
- Group: Sugarland, Aquilo, Missio, Sheppard, Walk The Moon, Lawson, Hedley, Great Good Fine OK, Cassius, Rudimental, Bastille

Musicals:
- A die-hard Sondheim fan, I'd give everything to see "Company" live headlining Raul Esparza.

Film:
- All-time favorite: CLOUD ATLAS - Watched 15 times.
- Quality sci-fi/fantasy movies get me going: Arrival, Gravity, Interstellar, Avatar, Star Trek
- Dramas (with evident social awareness): Manchester by the Sea, Spotlight, The Post, The Normal Heart
- Everything that has the names of Ang Lee, The Wachowskis, Pedro Almodóvar, Wes Anderson, David Fincher, Andrew Haigh (director), Jessica Chastain, Olivia Colman, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Regina King, Michelle Williams, Lucas Hedges, Collin Farrell, Matthew Macfadyen (actor), Stephen Colbert, Ricky Gervais, Nathan Lane, Nathan Fielder, Bo Burnham, Hasan Minhaj (comedian), Aaron Sorkin, Jesse Armstrong (writer)

Series:
- Prestige: Succession, The Bear, Fellow Travelers, Billions, American Crime, 7 Seconds, The Diplomat
- Sci-fi/Fantasy: Foundation, Severance, Westworld, GOT/HOD, Sense 8, Inside No.9, Black Mirror
- Politics/Career: The Crown, VEEP, House of Cards, The Newsroom, Suits, Silicon Valley
- Sitcom/Comedy: Episodes, Julia, Modern Family, The Other Two, Schitt's Creek, Platonic, Good Omens

Standups: Wolf/Minhaj only occasionally, Colbert always. I am quite ambivalent about Kimmel/Oliver/Noah and loathe Fallon. New kids in town that deserves all the attention: Mark Normand, Sam Moril, Matteo Lane, Joel Kim Booster, and Cameron Esposito.

Books:
- Non-fiction is generally preferred over fiction [The Excellent Sheep (William Deresiewicz) remains the biggest influencer on my self-upbringing.]

- Fictions: Dystopian novels, Bildungsroman stories [A Hundred Years of Solitude (Gabriel García Márquez ) was my childhood favorite, To Live (Yu Hua) brought me to tears every time, The Body Artist (Don DeLillo) was a recent obsession, and one can always do with more Orwellian reminders at this day and age.]

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I tackled a robber (who physically attacked me in broad daylight) barehandedly and got my cell phone back in Barcelona.
I played the titular role in Hamilton: An American Musical in my college production.

Teach, Learn, Share

- I'd love to share with you some of the tricks I've learned on the flight booking system/frequent flyer programs, which will save you some decent amount of $$$.

- Native mandarin speaker. Professionally trained in TV Broadcasting. It's a beautiful language with such emotional depth.

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Australia, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Cambodia, Canada, China, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, North Korea, Philippines, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

China, Singapore, United States