Hi, all!
In the first post of this blog I should introduce myself and the blog a bit. However things that cannot be known from my profile are such minor points as ‘what made me a chemist’ or something like that. So please allow me to perform a copied pattern of interview from the Reactions series of The Sceptical Chymist:

1. What made you want to be a chemist?
In my undergraduate period, majoring Biomedical Engineering, I was actually taking a mixture of courses ranged from polymer chemistry, digital signal processing, and cell biology. In the last year we had to choose a specific direction from the three, chemistry, physics or biology, and complete a corresponding project each. Most of my classmates chose biology (cell culture, tissue engineering, etc.). Indeed, it is very easy to feel interested when you are dealing with something alive, and biology is fashionable this century. Some others, mainly those clever guys who were not afraid of maths, chose physics (laser, ultrasonic, microscopy, etc.). Hardly anyone found chemistry (plastics, rubber, chitosan, etc.) interesting. I preferred plastics to cell culture or laser because it is the nearest to practice. Tissue engineering is still far from clinical application even today. Physical effects on our body are not always mechanically clear. Plastics and rubbers for biomedical use, however, have been applied to clinical practices for years. So I choose the chemistry direction in the last year of undergraduate. So it goes.

2. If you weren’t a chemist and could do any other job, what would it be – and why?
Pianist, definitely. (Sorry it’s not science-related but) I have been studying piano for almost ten years and now I am a classical music fan. That’s all. Enough for non-scientific content.

3. How can chemists best contribute to the world at large?
Well…it is not the question a junior chemist is supposed to answer brilliantly but, the contribution of chemistry is largely ignored by people in modern time, hidden behind attractive packages, simple buttons, etc. In fact chemistry always contribute to the world largely. To be larger, however, imagine in the future when we find another planet to live – how to deal with the atmosphere there (neutralizing the toxic ingredient, maybe)? How to defend the occasional meteorites hitting our roofs (maybe some ultra-strong ultra-light materials are needed) and filtered the harmful wavelengths of sun light (absorbent)? How to kill the insect-like creatures around you? And how to heal the patients suffered from unknown outer-space virus? …Solutions to all these questions rely on chemistry. In fact we’ve already relied on chemistry for these questions, but you would not feel so in this planet unless you move to another like I’ve mentioned. That’s all.

4. Which historical figure would you most like to have dinner with – and why?
Karl Marx, for I’m an orthodox Marxist. I want to tell him new findings in science after his death which have further proved his philosophy.

5. When was the last time you did an experiment in the lab – and what was it?
7 days ago before the vacation of the labor’s day. I was testing the solubility of a synthesized copolymer in several solvents so that I can determine the suitable one for the subsequent purification procedure.

6. If exiled on a desert island, what one book and one CD would you take with you?
The SAS Survival Handbook by John Wiseman, Chinese version of course because I don’t have a dictionary at hand. Everything needed for survival on a desert island is inside the book. And the CD record of Van Cliburn’s performance of Rachmaninoff-Paino concerto No.2 and Beethoven-Piano concerto No. 5 “Emperor”, with Fritz Reiner’s Chicago Symphony Orchestra. This is the most powerful, heartening and exciting performance I’ve ever heard. It helps me keep my will of survival in the worst situation.