It has been a long trip, a trip of pursuing a herpetologist dream, from the far East to the West. 

Just like many other enthusiastic researchers, I was a herp-lover since very young. Born and raised in southwestern China, my childhood memories were always associated with local wildlife, wether it was chasing lizards in the yard, or catching water snakes in the rice paddies. However, it was until I first read the book, Fauna Sinica Reptilia, by the landmark Chinese herpetologist Dr. Zhao Ermi at the age of 14, I was first introduced to the field of herpetology. 

Following my family, I moved to Washington and went to Washington State University for my undergraduate education. Thanks to my friend Mr. Jiang Ke, I was introduced to Dr. Che Jing's Lab of herpetological evolution and diversity at Kunming Institute of Zoology (KIZ), Chinese Academy of Sciences in my sophomore year. Since 2012, I worked at Dr. Che's lab in KIZ as a summer field assistance. This experience, along with experience from other undergraduate researches, really helped me refined my interests on phylogeography and evolution of herpetofauna in SE Asia.