2025 has quickly come to an end, so I’m writing a blog post to record this past year since coming to the United States.
Although I say I’m recording 2025, my journey actually began at the end of December 2024, so let’s start from when I was preparing to depart!
Ticket prices weren’t too expensive at the time. Plus, since it was my first time going abroad, considering the 12-hour flight time and the fact that the standard baggage allowance wasn’t enough for two large suitcases, I paid a bit extra for Premium Economy.
After landing in Detroit, I was asked to open my luggage for inspection because I had so many bags. However, once the officer asked and found out I was here to study, he just waved me through and even said goodbye in slightly broken Chinese.
As soon as I walked out, I saw my friend who came to pick me up. I’m really grateful; otherwise, adapting during that initial period would have been much harder :)
I went back to the room, hastily unpacked, and got ready for an early morning flight to Boston the next day. When buying tickets, I found that a connecting flight to Boston was significantly cheaper than flying directly to Detroit. It was the perfect excuse to invite my partner, who is studying in the US, to join me for a tour of some major cities on the East Coast.
Our first stop was Boston. Since I had just arrived and was worried about safety in the US, we stayed at a relatively nice hotel. This was my first time staying at a Hyatt. Since we had a $75 credit, we chose to have dinner at the hotel.
We visited many places, and I formed my initial impressions of the US.
Since we were in Boston, how could we not eat lobster! Boston Lobster, here we come~ This was also the first “Cash Only” shop I encountered; we actually had to go to a nearby BoA to withdraw cash.
In the evening, we went to the world’s top institution (in my opinion), MIT. If I could go to school here, I’d be willing to do it even if you paid me a million a year (jk).
After finishing up in Boston, we went to New York. Before going, I had a great impression of New York. I had watched many documentaries about it online and was full of longing for the world’s premier city. However, unexpected things happen. We hit a snag right at the first step: my partner accidentally left their iPad at the hotel, so we had to go back and ended up missing the bus to New York lol. AND! Hotels in New York are the most expensive, yet the quality is the worst. This gave me a terrible impression of Hilton, although I’m told Hilton Garden Inn doesn’t count as a “real” Hilton, but the stereotype has already formed. The only upside was that it was relatively central in Manhattan, about a seven or eight-minute walk from the Empire State Building. We saw some famous buildings.
The night view of Manhattan is truly shocking. We bought a CityPASS and chose two observation decks to enjoy the night view from different angles (though it wasn’t really necessary; if not for the historical significance of the Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center would have been enough).
New York’s—and arguably the US’s—most famous landmark, the Statue of Liberty, was naturally a must-visit.
A funny anecdote happened here. A family of foreigners asked me to take a photo for them. I honestly just pressed the shutter and forgot to frame the Statue of Liberty in the shot lol.
After finishing in the morning, we went to Chinatown—the one in Manhattan. Supposedly the largest Chinatown in the world? But since I had just come from China, I didn’t have much interest in Chinese food. We just grabbed a quick meal, some fast food. I actually didn’t like the place much; it felt dirty and chaotic. Btw, this was the only place in the US where I saw people selling luxury goods and Apple products on the street…
Then came the Twin Towers site, the 9/11 Memorial. The foundations of the former towers are now two giant pools with the names of the victims engraved around them. You can tell Americans take 9/11 very seriously; everyone’s expression inside the memorial was quite solemn, and the atmosphere was very oppressive.
In the evening, I ate at the most expensive restaurant of my life so far, a Korean BBQ place. It was too expensive; I remember it coming out to nearly $150 per person with tip. Supposedly there’s something special about the meat, but I couldn’t really taste the difference. The service, however, was impeccable; the waiter stood right opposite us to grill the meat and introduce the ingredients.
Regrettably, we didn’t have enough time to visit the legendary Metropolitan Museum of Art. Maybe I’ll find time to make a dedicated trip in the future.
After leaving New York, we went to Philadelphia. It felt like an ordinary small city? Although relatively historical, there wasn’t anything particularly special?
After that was Washington D.C. For me, D.C. was a bit boring? I don’t really like visiting all sorts of museums, so we basically just rushed through a few landmarks.
JHU is seriously luxurious. The architecture is so beautiful; I can’t imagine how atmospheric it would be to attend classes here.
After returning here, life became relatively monotonous: going to school, doing research, writing homework, preparing for exams…
Someone built a snowman in front of the house.
Then came the most exciting part—going back to China! Yes, since my visa was still valid, I decided to go back for the summer. Unfortunately, I’m too scared to renew my visa, otherwise, I might have gone back to play this winter break too. Sigh.
Passing through California was stunning. This kind of scenery outside the window lasted for about a full half-hour. At that moment, I only had one thought in my head: Wow, is California this prosperous? I must visit California if I get the chance.
I met the friends I’d been longing to see in Hangzhou. We booked an Airbnb, played Mahjong, watched movies, ate and drank everywhere, and had a KTV session—pity a certain someone wasn’t there.
We happened to walk around the accessible areas near and inside Huawei. It deepened my bad impression of Huawei; not getting off work by 11 PM, is that something a human does?
After the Hangzhou trip ended, I went to Beijing to see junior students who were about to graduate and a friend interning in Beijing. We went back to BJTU together, snuck into the dorms, and smiled with relief seeing that the abstract poster was still stuck on our dorm door.
In between, I took some time to go to Tianjin to accompany my partner for an interview. What age is it to still be doing a PhD? I regret not being firmer back then, which has led to us still being long-distance now.
Then I went straight back to Beijing to play some more. After years in Beijing, I finally found a chance to enter Peking University. Thanks to Routhleck for the invite (actually, it was me shamelessly insisting on visiting).
The last time I was in Beijing was for my visa, but I didn’t find a chance to eat at the restaurant I used to frequent. This time I finally tasted it for my last meal. It still tastes the same, but unfortunately, things and people have changed.
I went back home to keep my sister company for the final week of her Gaokao (college entrance exam) prep. Although her score wasn’t exceptionally high, it was passable? As long as she did her best. Finally, she can leave this ghostly place of Yan’an.
On the day the exam finished, our whole family went to Xi’an together, but we didn’t stay long, maybe a day or two. I took my mom and sister to Hangzhou to have fun, preparing to head to Shanghai to embark on my journey back to the US to continue my studies.
After that, I very reluctantly returned to the US. This time I witnessed a spectacle: the whole plane was full of Green Card holders and Citizens. Our visa lane was almost empty; I got through customs in less than ten minutes. Meanwhile, the line for Citizens and Green Cards was super long—a bit ridiculous haha, totally counter-intuitive.
During the summer, the classmate who picked me up before took me shooting. This was my first time touching a real gun. The sound was a bit terrifying; even with noise-canceling earplugs where I couldn’t hear normal speech, the gunshot still scared me half to death. The smell of gunpowder was also very pungent. I feel like I’m not really cut out for this activity hahaha.
One day I decided to visit downtown Detroit. I found it wasn’t that terrifying, but I still had reservations. However, the view by the river was quite nice.
Winter Break and a second run of the East Coast with a friend? It was a different person this time, but I wanted to go play again since it had been about a year, just to see it again. So we visited more places than before, but generally speaking, there wasn’t a huge difference.
After this trip was completed, I was finally going to attend the exciting NeurIPS. San Diego! California! Of course, the most important thing was that my partner was coming from China to see me. It was basically a honeymoon; just thinking about it made me happy sob sob.
The hotel provided was too luxurious. Thanks to the NeurIPS Travel Award, otherwise this would have been way too expensive.
I will never print a poster last minute again. It felt so embarrassing. Just this bit of paper cost me $100. Damn it.
In between, we took time to visit Joshua Tree National Park. I felt the scenery on the road was even better than inside the park, but regardless, it was worth it? Anyway, it didn’t cost much—sure beats paying $80 just to take an elevator in New York!
The Ritz-Carlton redeemed with 80,000 points! Initially, I thought it was just okay, but comparing it to prices in Chicago, I realized it was a steal. The original price was $1100, but it only cost 80k points. They are too kind, I’m crying. I’m coming back here to use my free night awards next year.
Beautiful journeys never last long. The conference ended, I transferred in Los Angeles, sent my partner back to China, and finally, we had a meal of Chaoshan Beef Hotpot that I’d been wanting for a long time—something almost exclusive to Los Angeles. I can only say it was better than nothing; not as good as in China, but in the US, one shouldn’t be so picky. At least it looked authentic.
Back in Detroit. As soon as I walked out of the airport, I wanted to go back to California lol. The last trip of the year has ended.
Let’s end with a sentence I really like. It’s a wrap for this year, and an outlook for 2026:
What we spend our whole lives searching for should be the life we love and the person we want to become. So, it doesn’t matter if you take a few detours. It doesn’t matter if you spend a lot of time on the road. As long as you are on the way to becoming you, that is enough. God’s mercy lies in the fact that as long as you keep moving forward, He always provides a way.