Airing

Day 1: Departure#

Shenzhen —— Beijing#

The journey is destined to be tortuous, and the unexpected began on the night before departure.

I booked two tickets for a Hainan Airlines international connecting flight. The first leg was a flight from Shenzhen to Beijing at 9 AM, and the second leg was from Beijing to San Jose at 3 PM. At 11 PM the night before departure, I received an urgent text notification informing me that the 9 AM flight from Shenzhen to Beijing had been canceled and rescheduled to 7 AM. When I received the news, I had no complaints; instead, I sighed in relief—thank goodness I stayed up late, or I would have missed this information…

However, after waking up at 4 AM and heading to the airport the next morning, I found that the 7 AM flight had also been canceled! Hainan Airlines is really unreliable; no wonder their reputation online has always been poor.

In a hurry, I processed a ticket change and managed to grab one of the last four standby tickets from China Southern Airlines. After completing the procedures, I saw a long line at the Hainan Airlines counter almost reaching the airport entrance, and I felt very fortunate—if I hadn’t arrived early, I wouldn’t have been able to get a ticket change, and I definitely wouldn’t have been able to depart today.

Although there were many unexpected events, everything turned out to be fortunate.

Beijing —— San Jose#

I arrived in Beijing smoothly, and after passing through customs, I asked the staff at the counter to reserve two seats next to me. Yes, this time I also needed to take care of two junior sisters from Zhejiang University; the three of us were attending WWDC as representatives of the mobile application innovation competition, feeling quite the pressure…

To be honest, I hadn’t flown in a long time, and during the entire 10-hour journey, I was fixated on the flight route map in front of me, feeling exceptionally excited when we crossed the border. Perhaps I was a bit too excited, or maybe it was uncomfortable to sleep on the plane; I only managed to sleep for 2 hours that night… In the middle of the night, I took off my eye mask and saw that my junior sister hadn’t slept either; she was still watching a movie. Well then, let’s play Switch together.

PS. The view from the plane when we arrived in the San Francisco Bay was truly beautiful!

Day 2: Dinner#

After getting off the plane, I felt like I was floating; my consciousness and body were separated, having slept less than 6 hours in 48 hours. I was confused after exiting the airport; Apple had booked us a student dormitory at SJSU, but we had no idea how to get there… Cleverly, I followed other tourists and successfully found a taxi. The driver was very friendly, chatting with us along the way; it felt like the people here were indeed very warm. The scenery on the road was different from what I imagined; there were no tall buildings, and it felt like a countryside, while also feeling like I had broken through a dimensional wall and entered the world of a GTA game.

After checking in, we went to the venue to pick up our badges. On the way to the WWDC venue, the entire street was filled with Apple’s reception staff. As we walked on the red carpet, they applauded and cheered for us, frequently coming up to high-five us. As a low-key Chinese person, I truly felt their enthusiasm was as bright as the clear sky here, with sunshine spilling all over the earth.

When I received my badge, the Apple staff asked me, "Are you excited?" I replied, "No, I am so sleepy." The staff looked at me in confusion…

After that, I joined other winners from the China region, and everyone warmly greeted me and chatted, but I was just too sleepy… While chatting, I almost fell asleep sitting down…

During dinner time, I went with the group to a nearby restaurant for the China region's dinner. The attendees included 27+3 winners, as well as Boss Ge, mentor Jason, some Apple employees I didn’t know, and a bunch of media friends. After three winners raised their hands to sign up, they took turns introducing their works, and I almost fell asleep in the corner. Although I also wanted to promote the Twin Diary, I was afraid I would fall asleep if I went up…

After the lecture, mentor Jason found me, and I tried hard to perk up. We talked a lot about the development of the Twin Diary, and he affirmed our work, which made me very happy~ Then I quietly went to get some food, and as I passed the dining table, I heard a very familiar voice—it was Zhong Wenze! At that moment, I felt my sleepiness was suddenly driven away by my fervent fan spirit! I immediately grabbed him, introduced him to Twin Diary, and expressed my desire for a photo together! Zhong Wenze was indeed as approachable as in the videos; later, he even posted on Weibo to promote Twin Diary~ I usually enjoy watching his vlogs, and I never expected that one day he would interview our product, nor did I expect that one day he would post a Weibo for me.

It was truly a happy day!

But after that dinner, I couldn’t eat anything; on one hand, the huge steak was unappetizing, and on the other hand, it was a time zone issue—Beijing time was around 3 or 4 AM, and I really couldn’t eat anything. After eating, I rushed back to the dormitory to sleep.

Day 3: WWDC 19#

I went to bed at 7:30 PM the previous night, but my regular biological clock woke me up at 2 AM, having only slept for a little over 6 hours. If I calculate, in 72 hours, I had only slept for 10 hours; I was almost turning into a panda…

However, due to my excitement for WWDC, 10 hours was completely enough! When I went out, I saw a squirrel at the school. The police dogs on site were super well-behaved and cute; Apple even gave the dogs badges! After arriving at the venue, I found that Scholars could enter early without queuing~ By the way, the atmosphere at the venue was super high.

For this WWDC, I personally feel it was the most sincere one in recent years, and I was fortunate to be present to experience the following points that I am very optimistic about:

• SwiftUI
• Dark Mode
• Photos / Notes / Reminders
• Sidecar
• iPadOS
• Sign in with Apple

Just to complain, the lunch provided at the venue was terrible; the "grass" and "leaves" were really bad! For dinner, the three of us found a nearby Subway. Due to communication barriers, none of us knew what we ordered… I cleverly waited for my companions to finish ordering and then told the staff, "the same as her…" After returning that night, we played Switch for a while and then went to sleep.

I slept very well tonight; I finally adjusted to the time zone.

Day 4: Apple Park#

Today, during the lunch break, the three of us took an Uber to Apple Park. Just to complain again, transportation abroad is really expensive, basically over six times that of domestic prices… The Apple Park Visitor Center, compared to other Apple stores, has an AR Apple Park exhibition area and some limited items like T-shirts and hats, but other than that, there wasn’t much difference. So after we took a tour, we found it quite boring. We went to the observation deck on the second floor to try to get a view of Apple Park, only to find it was overgrown with weeds…

Just as we were about to leave, the "Today at Apple" event started. The three of us sat down to listen, only to find we were the only ones sitting down… So we were forced to sign up and listen to a guy teach us how to use Keynote, right in the middle of the hall, conducting a one-on-three small class; it was a bit awkward… Even more awkward was that the content was really too simple; after half an hour, I felt it was too easy to continue listening. When the guy asked if we had any questions, we all unanimously said no and chose to leave in a hurry, leaving the guy alone and dejected… (But later we still gave him five stars in feedback; Apple employees are very friendly and warm, and there’s no reason not to give full marks.)

Day 5: Hiking & Stanford#

This afternoon, we met with teacher Liuyubobobo!! He is my programming mentor and has always guided me on my programming journey. He and his wife took us hiking in the park, and I couldn’t help but marvel that America is actually a big countryside; the natural environment is really beautiful. The ducks are not afraid of people; teacher Bobo said that the ducks here are very arrogant; if you tease them, they will chase you and bite you.

After that, we went to Stanford University and its chapel, taking tons of photos and shopping crazily. For dinner, we all had Chinese food. It turns out that teacher Bobo’s wife is a researcher at the school; she reminded us to pay attention to safety in America and to return home before sunset, as there are many robbery and shooting incidents, most of which target people of Asian descent. The natural scenery we saw today was indeed beautiful, but the big cities are dirty and chaotic. In comparison, I suddenly felt that the public security in our country is actually very good. Additionally, based on my experiences over the past few days, the public facilities in our country are also better than those in America.

I made a simple vlog of today’s itinerary; if you’re interested, you can click to watch: https://www.bilibili.com/video/av54807783

Day 6 & Day 7: Session#

After listening to teacher Bobo’s advice yesterday, we were all particularly scared and cautious, so we spent the last two days obediently attending sessions at the conference… However, teacher Bobo recommended many delicious foods to us and told us how to find good food (download Yelp, the foreign version of Dianping). Over the past few days, we’ve eaten many delicious things, like fish and chips, BBQ, etc.~ But I still want to complain; the lunch at the venue was really bad, either "leaves" or some bizarre sandwiches, and one sandwich even had only tofu inside…

During our break, we also took a stroll around SJSU, where we were staying; the school is quite beautiful. Thanks to Apple for providing student dormitories for us to stay in, allowing us to experience a bit of study abroad life~

Day 8: Return Journey and Reflections#

Flipping through my moments from two years ago, I once dreamed of going to WWDC for a graduation trip. I always wanted to see the world abroad; I previously considered studying abroad but didn’t pursue it due to financial burdens; I also thought about summer exchanges but never had the opportunity. In the last month of my student phase, I am grateful to Zhejiang University and Apple for giving me this opportunity, allowing me to attend WWDC as a Scholar.

First time attending WWDC.
First time getting my own passport.
First time experiencing life abroad.
First time meeting teacher Bobo.
First time meeting Zhong Wenze in person!!
First time communicating with foreign friends (classmates don’t count…).
First time eating BBQ.
First time eating Fish & Chips.
First time eating "leaves" and "grass"...
First time knowing that a sandwich can have tofu in it...
First time unable to sleep on a plane playing NS.
First time seeing a live squirrel! (There are no squirrels in the zoo.)
First time seeing many flowers whose names I can’t recall.
First time going to a church.
First time adjusting to a time zone.
First time making a vlog.
First time attending a session entirely in English.
First time participating in an Apple Store event.
…
And many, many more firsts…

The process of life,
Whether it’s the purest snow or fries and salad,
I must taste what it feels like
So that I don’t regret this journey.

I originally thought my dreams were shattered because I didn’t win the grand prize and missed the scholarship application, but the grand prize team only had two members, and there were three special tickets. I am grateful to the organizing committee for giving our team the opportunity for the third ticket, and I also thank my team for supporting me to represent us.

I originally thought hope was slim because when I received the notification, everyone said that no one could get a U.S. visa within a month without a passport, and later the appointment for the interview was also pushed back by a week… But because I had previously helped Wei Jiang through a mini-program (Zheng Linkai’s girlfriend~), by chance, I met one of their fans who works as a travel agent. I am grateful to the fan for helping me expedite the process and privately training me on a lot of interview knowledge, allowing me to smoothly obtain my visa (/ω＼).

I originally thought there were frequent surprises, and it wasn’t until the last few days that I learned I might need to apply for an official exit application. I was in a panic running through the process, and when I reached the final stage, I encountered problems and couldn’t get it done. I am grateful for the secretary’s concern and help, allowing me to travel with peace of mind. At the same time, I am very, very grateful to teacher Liu from the organizing committee for meticulously preparing our itinerary.

I originally thought I would miss my flight; I was notified at 11 PM the night before that the 9 AM flight was canceled and rescheduled to 7 AM. Thankfully, I didn’t sleep, or I would have missed the notification. But when I arrived in the morning, I was told that the 7 AM flight was also canceled. Fortunately, I arrived early and got one of the last four standby tickets.

I used to wonder why I always encountered so many surprises,
But now looking back,
Perhaps,
I have always been the luckiest kid.

There are four memorable things from this trip:
First, I was present to listen to the keynote and was fortunate to witness one of the most sincere system upgrades in recent years.
Second, I got a photo with Zhong Wenze; I often watch his vlogs and never expected that one day he would post on Weibo for me.
Third, I met my programming mentor, teacher Bobo, and we went to Stanford together; it felt like a dream~ I have followed his online programming course for five years, and it’s no exaggeration to say that my current programming journey was paved by Bobo.
Fourth, I experienced campus life in a foreign country. I drifted like a lonely cloud, seeing a city where so many people live, yet not a single person related to me. Meeting by chance, we are all guests in a foreign land. It evokes a strange feeling that is neither a sense of relief nor loneliness.

I once had such times,
Unreasonably believing that my future was full of possibilities,
Believing that I would have a rosy future.

But more often, when facing unfamiliar things,
When facing admiration and envy,
I would feel lost,
Not knowing what to do.

No matter which step you are on,
There are people looking up to you below,
And there are people looking down on you above.
You look up feeling inferior, look down feeling proud,
Only through introspection can you see your true self.

Everyone needs to know what they want,
Know what is irreversible,
Know how to achieve their dreams,
Know how to face suffering,
And the answers to gains and losses will naturally come.

However, all of this is actually very, very difficult.
I don’t know how to face suffering,
I don’t know how to achieve my dreams,
I also don’t know what I will miss or what regrets I will have,
I don’t know where fate will take me,
But I believe,
As long as I run towards the sunlight, I will leave the shadows behind.

Previously, during an interview with IT Home, I was asked to leave a message,
I said:
“Go learn meaningful knowledge,
Do what you love,
Create products that contribute to society.”

Actually, this is also what I said in a letter to my mentor a year ago,
In that letter, I decided not to continue pursuing a PhD,
Wanting to choose to explore more new things.
But today, I suddenly feel,
Perhaps the greatest meaning of life is to spend the rest of my life finding what I love the most.

I think this world is incredibly beautiful, with trees full of flowers and willow branches swaying.
The sunlight sweeps across the city, and the breeze passes through my fingers.
This world is beautiful,
Worth fighting for,
And worth fighting for the things I love.

Looking back at my diary, I can’t help but realize:
The decisions I made for the college entrance examination,
The unwillingness I felt back then,
The desire to study abroad,
The decision on my career direction,
The competitions I participated in,
The internship in elementary school,
The serious preparation for the postgraduate entrance examination,
The joy of being accepted…
These are all very important moments in life,
But when they are recorded in the diary,
They seem quite dull and ordinary,
I thought it was just an ordinary day in life.

Indeed, life is like a journey,
Not as beautiful as it seems,
Only after you return from all the heat and mess,
Do you forget the suffering you endured,
Recalling the incredible scenery you have seen,
That is truly beautiful.