40 Questions to Sum Up 2025

Part 1: Defining Moments

The big events and turning points of the year.

1. What did you do this year that you'd never done before?

Started working out.

2. What cities, states, or countries did you visit this year?

Over National Day, I went to Lhasa, Tibet, and visited Yamdrok Lake, Karola Glacier, and Namtso. It was my first time above 5,000 meters, and it felt pretty good.

3. Which day (or days) of the year will you remember for the rest of your life? Why?

October 3, at the Namtso Sacred Elephant Gate scenic area.

Many people say Tibet is a place that can transform a person's mind. I think that's true, but what I'd rather ask is: why is Tibet such a place?

Because the land and sky of Tibet hold a force of absolute purity, as if the world really had gods, guiding every living thing that steps on this earth toward inner peace.

4. What are you proudest of this year?

160 km in a single day of cycling, and 1,000 km in a single month.

Body fat down from 20 to 17.

5. What was your biggest failure this year?

I bought an iPhone 16 Pro Max on Xianyu, and when I checked it I missed the colored dots in the front camera. I ended up losing 2,000 yuan.

6. Besides failures, what other difficulties or challenges did you face?

The hardest thing was probably restarting my Official Account updates in the fourth quarter.

It really was hard and challenging.

The hard part is that I have to create every day. That doesn't just mean typing at the computer. It means thinking in daily life about what to write next.

The challenge is that I don't want my Official Account to be only daily life updates. I want it to spread something. Luckily, I'm gradually working through these difficulties and challenges.

7. Did you get sick or injured this year? How's your health?

Basically no illness. The one exception was a fall on the way back from cycling to Sanxingdui. One of my cycling shoes was wrecked and a big patch of skin came off my right leg. It was only a surface wound, though, and after half a month of rest it healed.

Thanks to cycling and working out, my aerobic capacity and muscle strength keep growing, and I feel pretty good.

8. How did you spend your birthday this year?

I was on a work trip in Mianyang in the morning, got back to Chengdu at noon, wrote my birthday post in the afternoon, and had dinner with my mom and little brother in the evening. My mom bought me a cake. At night I played three rounds of Golden Spatula with friends and got knocked out in seventh, sixth, and fifth place.

9. Looking back, did you keep last year's New Year's resolutions?

I can't actually remember what last year's resolutions were, but they were probably just to read more and keep writing.

If so, this year I read twelve books and restarted my Official Account in the last quarter. I think that's a good change. It's late, but this year's output is already higher than the previous two years combined.

Part 2: Gains, Losses, and Things

What you have, what you've lost, and your relationship with material things.

10. What was the best value-for-money thing you bought this year?

OnePlus Ace 3 Pro. I bought it on Xianyu in February for 1,900 yuan and sold it in June for 1,800. It was my main phone for the longest stretch this year.

11. Where did most of your money go?

Gadgets, rent, food

12. Was there something you wanted and finally got?

I wanted to move into a place with no furniture. In my old place, the living room had a huge sofa with a chaise end, plus a coffee table and a TV stand. With all that in, the living room was left with just two narrow walkways.

Over time I realized these things didn't do much in daily life, or anything at all, but they took up the most space. So I wanted to rent an unfurnished place.

In the end I found one. Not only is it unfurnished, it's also 400 yuan a month cheaper than before.

13. Was there something you wanted but didn't get?

A better bike

14. What was missing this year that you hope to have next year?

More sensible financial habits: I hope to cut 90% of unnecessary spending next year and save more.

A better body: I hope to get my body fat to 15.

15. What do you wish you'd done more of?

Reading, writing, exercising.

16. What do you wish you'd done less of?

Unnecessary spending, social obligations, worrying

17. How would you describe your style or personal image this year?

I only wear clothes with no logos, clothes that fit in length and size, and basics.

Tall, sturdy, rational, talkative.

Part 3: People and Feelings

Love, hate, parting, and reunion.

18. Did anyone close to you welcome a new life?

No.

19. Did you lose anyone close to you?

No.

20. Who's the best new friend you made this year?

Liang Mouyin

And every writer in Between the Lines. They gave me many new ideas and a lot of inspiration, and they directly pushed me to restart my Official Account.

21. Who did you miss the most this year?

Geng Yi

22. Whose behavior deserves applause or imitation?

Liang Mouyin. This guy kept writing his Official Account even after drinking.

23. Whose behavior shocked you or was hard to accept?

A college classmate and roommate of mine used some methods that caused a huge financial loss for a good friend we have in common.

24. Did you fall in love this year? (Or did your love life change?)

No

25. Compared with this time last year, is there anyone you resent more now? (Or anyone you've forgiven?)

No

26. What (or who) kept you sane and clear-headed through the chaos?

Mao Zedong Thought

27. Compared with this time last year, are you happier or sadder? Richer or poorer? Healthier or weaker?

Happier, richer, healthier.

I'm happier because I'm richer and healthier.

I'm richer because I have new savings, and because I found a minimalist way of living, which has made me richer in spirit.

I'm healthier because I cycled more often this year and started working out.

Part 4: Culture and Taste

The food for the mind this year.

28. What got you incredibly excited and fired up?

The S15 League of Legends World Championship quarterfinal, AL vs T1. I never drink sugary drinks, but during the last game I went out and bought a bottle of regular cola, because I really felt a bit hypoglycemic.

29. Which song takes you straight back to this year the moment it plays?

"The Greatest Show": no explanation needed

30. What's your favorite TV show this year?

When Life Gives You Tangerines: the perfect K-drama in my mind

31. What's the best book you read this year?

Ming Dynasty 1566: between the lines, knowing when to retreat and when to change, life as theater.

32. What's your favorite movie this year?

The Greatest Showman: this is what I imagine a musical to be, a carnival and a feast.

33. What was your biggest music discovery this year?

Hugh Jackman, who played Wolverine, turns out to be an actor who came up through musical theater. Before The Greatest Showman, he played Jean Valjean in Les Misérables. Unbelievable!

34. What was the most memorable meal you had this year?

American barbecue with Jiahua and Ziyu... I didn't want to eat meat again for a week afterward.

Part 5: The Big Picture and Wisdom

Reflections on the year.

35. How did you spend your holidays?

Long-distance cycling, time alone, meals with family.

36. What one thing, if it happened, would make this year feel complete?

It already feels complete. It would be best if my Official Account reached 500 followers before next year.

37. Which celebrity or public figure did you admire most this year?

Lay Zhang: he has stuck with promoting traditional Chinese culture for a long time, with concrete practice and results.

This year I went to see his stage play Called Upon: Dunhuang. It was so-so overall, but it does help spread Dunhuang culture, so I went on to read Autobiography of Chang Shuhong: Burning a Lifetime for Dunhuang. In 2026 I may make a trip to Dunhuang.

38. Which political or social issue moved you most this year?

Hu Chenfeng's "Android people" and "iPhone people" theory.

As I see it, Hu Chenfeng blew up online not only because he has a gift for speaking, but more importantly because he accurately caught the mood of many ordinary people.

Unfortunately, he didn't realize his words would sharpen class tensions and resentment. His ending was inevitable.

39. What's the most valuable life lesson you learned this year?

Spending two years figuring out one thing isn't really a waste of a life.

40. If you had to sum up your year in one quote, what would it be?

"Where my heart is at peace, there is my home." (Su Shi)