An element often overlooked or underappreciated when we think about cultural exchange is the regional and local connections that make a place dear to the people who live there. Some cities have been more loved than others, especially in public awareness. How many songs have been written about New York, San Francisco, Beijing, or Chengdu? Music and other forms of media reflecting people’s feelings about a place are undoubtedly an important part of culture and identity. These songs, like "Take Me Home, Country Roads," or "San Francisco," reflect a more localized and personalized kind of attachment that remains largely lacking in the public discourse around cross-border exchanges.

What makes a city or village unique isn’t simply the roads and water that the place consists of; instead, it is made up of the thousands or tens of thousands of personal stories and experiences that its inhabitants have shared.It has often been brought up in recent years that Gen-Z seems to deny settling down in one place like their elders did. The memories and experiences they leave behind will, over time, become part of the city’s collective memory. So what do we want to leave behind? Like Xu Zhimo wrote in Taking Leave of Cambridge Again, "Quietly I am leaving, Just as quietly as I came; Gently waving my sleeve, I am not taking away a single cloud.“