Hello! Nice to meet you.

Hello! Nice to meet you.

Hello! My name is Huang Zihan, but people usually call me Miya.

I am currently a first-year Master’s student at the University of Tokyo. I belong to Yusuke Yokoyama Laboratory at the Atmospheric and Ocean Research Institute located in Kashiwanoha Smart City of Japan.

My undergraduate research was on studying past melting history of East Antarctic Ice Sheet using beryllium isotopes. Now I have shifted towards the lower latitude, studying Kuroshio-Oyashio mixing zone in the Tohoku region of Japan.

I have lived in Beijing, Hong Kong, Zurich, and Japan. So please don’t ask me where I am from. It’ll trigger my identity crisis :p

Nice to meet you!

“蒼山洱海大理城,雪月風花古揚名。

— 王明全

When we talk about China's ethnic minorities, one might think of the human rights issues of the Uyghurs and Tibetans.

In fact, there are 56 ethnic groups in China. Of these, 91% are majority Han Chinese. The other 55 are listed as "ethnic minorities" in the classification by the minority policy. There was a time when China was also ruled from the "minority" Mongolian and Manchu ethnic groups in the past.

My mother's ethnic group is the not so famous Bai (means white in Chinese). They are a Tibetan ethnic group living mainly in the Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan Province, China. I am not sure about other ethnic minorities, but the Bais are almost guaranteed the right to maintain their language and culture. Since my grandparents already moved into Beijing city from the village before my mother was born, neither my mom nor me can speak the Bai dialect anymore. However, I did learn a few words from my twin relatives who were about the same age as me whenever I visit Dali. Can you spot the picture of us jumping in front of the three towers of Dali on the right? One of them went to university in Beijing and is currently working in Ghana, Africa. Another one went to study abroad in Thailand and is now working in Kunming, the capital city of Yunnan province.

I haven't been back to Dali for 10 years, but I have been keeping in touch with my relatives. The local environment has changed a lot. Good or bad, should be left for the local people to decide.

I think 民族のもの are something that transcends national boundaries. We were all so close to our land before we get put into cold walls in the city and institutionalized in schools built with walls rather than wide fields where you can run free. Do we keep our culture? Can we bring the world together? Can we do both?

I feel like it's only recently that the natives and ethnic thing have become a “cool” thing and to be honest, I think it has been misused in many cases. Since the industrial revolution, man's relationship with nature has been broken. In recent years, with the global interest in environmental issues, there has been a renewed focus on indigenous peoples. I cannot consider myself “indigenous”. This term is not applicable in the history of China is very different than that of America. The ethnic minorities were not colonized. Instead, we fought and the ones who win got to rule. In fact, the Han majority (~90% of the population) has a long history of being ruled by the minorities like the Mongolians and Manchurians.

Australia is all about Aboriginals, and the U.S. is about Native Americans. I think that Yunnan Province, which used to be the Chama ancient road, is a place where different cultures and beliefs can harmonize and coexist with each other. I would like to find inspiration from my roots to coexist with nature.

Dali - Land of Wind, Flower, Snow, and Moon

Beijing

Hong Kong

The world is divided by so many imaginary boundaries

Our histories, values, religions, …

I want the world to come as one.

Or maybe I should say, to realize that we are one

Not just logically, but experientially.

We have to feel it to know it.

And then, I thought about what are the things that I am good at that can play a humble part in making the world a little bit more connected.

SCIENCE, ART, MUSIC, and FOOD are the first 4 that come to mind.

In the modern world, we like to keep up with the trends

The newest model of iPhone. That fancy xxx………(say sth bad to the environment)

Such a mindset is destroying our planet, causing the Sixth Mass Extinction and bringing an existential crisis to humanity in return through the “Butterfly Effect”.

Should we move to space? Or is there no Planet B? I do not have the answer. Tbh, both options sound important to me. We cannot sustain ourselves on planets like Mars or Venus if we cannot even regenerate our Earth. At the same time, we cannot regenerate our Earth without diving into our curiosity and endeavoring into outer space, because that is where we can acquire wisdom and knowledge that can save us.

Antarctica is the perfect continent that connects all these 4 things. Now I invite you to join me on an adventure with me to the edge of the world - Antarctica. Let me tell you what I have discovered so far, and you tell me my blindspots.

Bon voyage!

Learn how to see. Realize that everything connects to everything else.”
— Leonardo Da Vinci