Hello interpals users! It's such a fateful coincidence that you ended up seeing my profile and I genuinely hope you have fun getting to know me a bit :)

My name is Ming (明) and it means bright/intelligent/tomorrow in Chinese. I studied genetics and molecular biology from Tsinghua University (fyi it also provides a very prestigious Mandarin program). I am quite outdoorsy, and you will often find me hiking or camping when I am free.

I just graduated with my PhD from University of Wisconsin-Madison. I was doing research addressing the molecular mechanism of gravitropism (how plant root/shoot sense gravity signal and bend subsequently). Now I am developing immunoassay assays in a biotech company based in Boston.

I am here ideally for a substantial friendship, rather than temporary small talks. But I do understand not many things last forever so going with the flow is nice. I'm looking for people who are sincere, intelligent, and mature. I would love that if we could meet up sometime in the future, that would be dope. I generally write long ish message, with which we can have higher efficiency and more contents to share.
Some of my interests include philosophy, politics, history, science, culture (including foods), travel (outdoor), and linguistic studies

My favorite sports are tennis and badminton. Like I mentioned, I am passionate about hiking or travelling. It's very important to broaden our horizons and travelling is one of the best ways. Though Netfilx never bores me when I just want a me time.


The countries I've been to:
the United States (IL, IN, TX, WI, MI, MN, OH, PA, VA, MD, D.C., DE, NJ, NY, CT, MA, KY, TN, FL, IA, CO, UT, LA, CA, GA, SC, NC, WA, OR, NV, AZ, NM, MO, AR)
the United Kingdom(London, York, Manchester, Edinburgh)
France (Paris)
Russia (Moscow)
Japan (Tokyo, Kyoto, Nagoya, Osaka, Nara)
Singapore
Thailand (Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya)
Vietnam (Ha Noi, Ho Chi Minh City)
Cambodia (PhnumPenh, Angkor Wat)
Australia (Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne)
New Zealand (Auckland)
China (all provinces except Tibet)



ABOUT MANDARIN

I'm proud of my culture and heritage. If you happen to be studying Chinese, I may be able to help you.
Mandarin is the official language in China, but Chinese consists of thousands of dialects including Cantonese and Hokkien. Chinese is a descriptive language (I was told German it's similar?) For example, computer is 电脑 which means electronic brain and vacuum 吸尘器 means sucking dirt machine in Chinese (I didn't realize it's funny until I translated it to English).

If you are debating to learn a new language, I strongly recommend you to try Mandarin first, one of the most profound and useful languages in the world and not as hard as the stereotype says. Basically, Chinese is made up of Characters, and the structure of Characters is mostly made up of 2 parts. One part is called radical, which is the indication of meaning (like the latin root), another is the indication for pronunciation, which usually is a more basic character (there are lots of exceptions but yeah it's still convenient)

I would also recommend you to actually come to China, preferably Beijing, the cultural center for language learning, Tsinghua, BLCU, Renmin all have very prestigious Mandarin programs with different levels. Shanghai would be a great city to experience modern China. With the influence of Confucianism, Chinese people are extremely hospitable towards foreigners. And the crime rate is exceptionally low in China. I have never felt unsafe anytime (even at 3 am) in China comparing to my experience in America.

welcome anyone who speaks English or Mandarin to contact me, making friends is always the greatest joy.
Also, I will be more than happy to show the beauty of Chinese language/culture or my experience of residing in the US to those who are intrigued.

I always try to reply to genuine messages, which obviously does NOT include "Hi" "Can we be friends" or copy-pasted ones
I also tend to write long ish messages, and if someone sends me a long one, I typically respond a even longer one :) because I think it makes no sense to make small talks on here. Otherwise I could just literally hit the streets and start talking to strangers.
Grad school keeps me quite occupied so I may delay my reply, sorry in advance.

I am extroverted and my ideology would be center-left. But regardless of age, gender, nationality, sexuality, or ethnicity, I'd love to get to know all kinds of people. But a side note, I am a gay man.

I HAVE A CHALLENGE FOR YOU:

I WILL BE COMPLETELY HONEST... you can ask me ONE question (only in my inbox). Any question, no matter how crazy, sinister, or wrong it is. I WILL answer no matter what. You have my FULL honesty, but I DARE you to put this on your profile and see what questions you get :D

I am open to helping with Mandarin studies if you are in an advanced level. I am volunteering to be a Mandarin mentor at my school.

tennis, badminton, science/biology, movies, travelling, camping/hiking, linguistics, cross-cultural comm

Mostly pop music but I have some fav bands:
Coldplay
Maroon 5
Westlife
Blue
Mayday

A Single Man
The wandering Earth
The Hunger Game
Avatar
Interstellar
Never Let Me Go
The Shawshank Redemption
Philadelphia
Forrest Gump

Sense 8
Eastersiders
How to get away with murder
The Big Bang Theory
Prison Break
Walking dead
Modern Family
Arrow
Friends

Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Dream of the Red Chamber
Pride and Prejudice
Animal Farm
The Hunger Game
Notre-Dame de Paris

Be who you are and say what you want because those who matter don't mind and those who mind don't matter