Enjoy your research; or, enjoy your life :-)

• Travel   &  Photography (My Album)

              places visited so far - yet too many others in plan or, more precisely, in dream 

              I'm a proud collector of vintage cameras. My oldest collection so far is an E & H T Anthony Champion, c.1890.

• Music and Audio

          I like Beethoven, Shostakovich, Stravinsky, ... those who can make high-dB noises. And so your guess is right: I don't like Mozart; but somehow I don't like Mahler or Wagner, ..., either.

         My favorite conductor is Carlos Kleiber, and my favorite composer (currently) is Bela Bartok (though I have more CDs on Shostakovich and Beethoven).

          My listening system configurations:

          Main System:

            (Analog) Basis 1400/Rega Exact 

            (Digital) EMM Labs DCC2

                ->  Ayre K1XE -> McIntosh MC275 -> Opera Tebaldi

           Second System (Vintage System):

             Marantz 5010B/Marantz 3250B/custom-built 6SN7 tube preamp/300B poweramp -> Rogers LS3/5A (15 ohm)   

        I'm also a proud collector of Edison phonographs, Columbia graphophones, and Victor gramophones. My current collections include Edison Gem, Fireside, Standard, Columbia Type A, AU, B, BX, BF, Q, Victor IV, VV-IV, R, Busybee Grand. The oldest one so far is a Columbia Type A, c.1896-1899.

  

• History and Geography

          I was always thinking about pursuing my studies of history or geography, like my sister, who later obtained her PhD in Ancient History of Greece and Rome from Columbia University and then became an Assistant Professor (now Associate Professor) in US. Right after the second year in my high school, however, I received an offer from Tsinghua Univ., and with some hesitation, I chose computer science. Yet in the first couple of years at Tsinghua, I often thought that it was a pity not to have majored in history or geography. My interest in these subjects has persisted. That long-lingering feeling of regret has now faded especially since computer science helped me find my current job. Anyway, I do like computer science, to which I will devote my life. 

         Unlike my sister who focuses on ancient western history, I'm particularly interested in the history of ancient China (before Song dynasty) and that of central Asia (especially ancient civilizations around Pamir and Tianshan Mountain). I'm a reader, and only a reader, meaning that I have no any personal opinions.

          I had almost chosen Tsinghua's Hydraulics Engineering, which was my another interest. My dream has been partly realized after I met my father-in-law, an expert in this field. Starting from 2004, I followed him to the construction sites of several major dams in western China, particularly those on Yangtze River, LanCangJiang River (澜沧江), JinShaJiang River (金沙江), MinJiang River (岷江), and Dadu River (大渡河).  My most cited research paper (Inaugural Test of Time Paper Award of IEEE INFOCOM, 2015) was written during my stay at the base camp of the DaChaoShan HydroPower Station on LanCangJiang River.

      

• My Children Kevin, Jerry, and Kathy