Mostly serving as a translator, tour guide is my part-time job, which allows me to step away from the computer and experience life in a more tangible, grounded way.

I once had my fortune told, and to my surprise, according to the divination reading, I was said to live the life of a wandering swordsman — a xia ke.In a way, the fortuneteller was right.I’ve always preferred life on the move.

And that was exactly how I lived when I was younger — traveling alone from place to place, carrying little more than curiosity and a desire to see the world for myself.

I was inspired by the stories of poets and other freelancers — like vloggers who led a free-spirited life, living in converted warehouses, remote hideaways, or even in a motorhome, always on the move, without a permanent destination.

Nevertheless, I now live a more settled life in Shanghai, a bustling cosmopolis of China.That is why I resonate with the saying “One can be a hermit even in the crowd.” — true retreat does not necessarily mean withdrawing to some remote mountain or isolated place.

Though part of me still longs for that wandering life, adulthood comes with responsibilities that cannot simply be cast aside.Over time, I’ve learned to make peace with reality.

I bought my own home and decorated it in a style I truly love, so that every morning I wake up and every night I go to bed in a good mood.Needless to say, my home is quietly tucked away in the suburbs of Shanghai, away from the bustle of the city center.

However, being a “Lady Hermit” does not contradict my desire to wander — to wander in the old sense, yet through the modern form of travel.Bookings from my potential clients arouse my longing for distant places, stirring the dormant restlessness that has never truly disappeared.

No matter how settled my life may seem, a part of me still longs for the road — for the feeling of leaving, observing unfamiliar landscapes through a train window, and briefly becoming a passerby in another corner of the world.

I know this is a rather extraordinary monologue, something you rarely hear from a tour guide.Finally, I want to clarify my own understanding of travel.My father once remarked on my habit of visiting the same place repeatedly — a notion quite beyond his comprehension, as my parents never revisit a destination once they have been there.For them, travel is driven primarily by curiosity: each trip must reveal something new.

Of course, I am curious too, but my motivation differs.I am drawn less by novelty and more by lifestyle — by experiencing a place in depth, letting it become part of my way of living rather than merely checking it off a list.

If you happen to share my philosophy of travel, then you are more than welcome to book me as your tour guide.

At its core, what I pursue is not simply tourism, but a certain way of living.Each departure feels, in some sense, like pulling up my roots.I enjoy that feeling of rootlessness: gliding lightly through vast landscapes, belonging nowhere and yet, for a fleeting moment, everywhere.

So perhaps, instead of merely “visiting” a destination, we can experience it together — slowly, thoughtfully, and in a way that allows the journey itself to become part of life.