31st December 2025 | Shenzhen

As we wrap up 2025 and get ready to dive into 2026, I’ve gotta say, there are a ton of memories from this past year worth reflecting on. In this post, I’ll take you through some of my highs and lows from 2025, full of joy and a bit of pain.

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January:

• Concert: WAGNER: The Ring: Scenes from Siegfried and Götterdämmerung
• World Politics: Trump’s inauguration as US president
• Family Memory: Annual Visit to Lianhua Mountain

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February

• First co-authored academic paper published in the Journal of Contemporary China
• Concerts: Jaap and Niu Niu (HKPhil), Jaap and Esther Yoo (HKPhil), Chamber Gems by Hong Kong Sinfonietta: The Winds and the Trout, and Kolesnikov Plays Beethoven
• First Tries: Tai Ping Koon Restaurant (not as good as expected, and it’s expensive), Taste Signature Restaurant (Four Points by Sheraton Shenzhen), Shenzhen Central Part, Olympic Square (Central, Hong Kong)
• Travel: Hong Kong to Taipei

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March

• Birthday: My 24th Birthday
• Academic Conference: my first experience, International Studies Association 2025 Annual Conference at Chicago, IL, USA (I made two presentations)
• Travel: National Palace Museum at Taipei, Taipei to Chicago, Chicago City
• First Tries: Chicago Deep-dish Pizza (Giordano’s), The Art Institute of Chicago, Panda Express (American Style Chinese food)
• Concerts: Gatti’s Mahler 3 (I cried), Gustav Kuhn Plays Bruckner’s Symphony No.8, and Ecstasy Unleashed: Zhang Haochen, Song Yuanming And The Ncpao Perform Liszt And Wagner
• Illness: COVID-19

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April

• Gathering: Shangri-La Hotel Shenzhen, Tennis and Other
• Concerts: Paavo Järvi & Bomsori Kim, and Aaron ZIGMAN’s Émigré
• Sports: Tennis with Colleagues

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May

• Trip: Macau with GPA Colleagues
• Reunion: Back to UIC/BNBU
• Concerts: Daniele Gatti Plays Götterdämmerung Suite, Gautier Capuçon Plays Shostakovich, Long Yu & Frank Peter Zimmermann, Valery Gergiev and The Mariinsky Orchestra Concert, and Alexandra Soumm Plays Bruch

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June

• Concerts: Young Piano Virtuoso: Tony Siqi Yun, Chen Lin & Chen Xi Plays Russian Masterpieces, Huang Yi, Zhang Haochen and the Hong Kong Phil performed Rachmaninoff’s full piano concert, Piano Recital by Mikhail Pletnev, and Tarmo Peltokoski Conducts Wagner
• Witnessed the graduation ceremony of my cousin from Hong Kong Baptist University

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July

• Academic Conference: International Political Science Association World Congress of Political Science at Seoul, S. Korea with GPA Colleagues
• Travel: Seoul and Busan of South Korea
• Concert: Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra’s 2024/2025 Music Season Closing Concert: Carmen Night
• My very last month living at CUHK Campus

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August

• Completion of my MPhil thesis and the oral defence
• Travel: Fuzhou

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September

• Travel: Chongqing, Jiuzhaigou, Chengdu
• Concerts: HKPhil Season Opening: Daniel Harding & Paul Lewis, Belt and Road | Long Yu & Behzod Abduraimov

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October

• Homecoming Day of UIC/BNBU
• Concerts: Beethoven’s Fourth And Seventh Symphonies, and Meet Chopin in Shenzhen

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November

• Graduation Ceremonies
• International Organisation Visit to Beijing
• CCCW Lectures
• Concerts: Daniele Gatti And Bruce Liu Present German and Austrian Classics, Lorenz Nasturica-herschcowici X Gautier Capuçon X Domenico Orlando: Virtuoso Night, Mao Fujita Plays Rachmaninov

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December

• Gathering with GPA Colleagues
• Concerts: Emanuel Ax Plays Beethoven, Tarmo Peltokoski & Lang Lang, And Forever Beethoven: Vera Tsu × Wang Jian × Zhang Haochen Interprets Beethoven’s Trio Concerto
• Illness: Broken Right Ankle