"Thanks to the convenient cross-Strait exchange mechanism, I'm able to stay in Beijing for such a long time," said Ding Zhaochen, who was born in Taiwan and has been working in the Chinese mainland for 16 years.

Ding began working as a teacher in Taiwan after completing his undergraduate and graduate studies abroad. In 2002, he moved to Beijing, where he continued his study to pursue a PhD.

From 2007 to now, Ding has been mainly working in the New Media Department at the Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology, tutoring students' design projects. During the past eight years, he has been busy running a workshop called Design Day Marathon at the Beijing Design Week.

Ding began doing the cross-Strait academic exchange programs from his early days at the institute. He found his work meaningful in improving the academic exchanges between the mainland and Taiwan.

"It allows young designers from both sides of the Strait to interact with and understand each other more," Ding said. "Home is where the heart is. I hope I can help those young designers to learn more about the excellent resources of Beijing, to support their designs going global," he added.