I’m always drawn to personal websites in all kinds of styles. A distinctive layout, bold colors, thoughtful writing, or simply a webmaster with a wonderfully oddball personality—those are the things that make me come back again and again.
Sites I’m grateful for
WordPress
The blogging platform behind this site. It’s hard not to appreciate nearly two decades of steady work from the team, especially now that the plugin ecosystem has become so powerful.
Free Pik
A thank-you for offering so many cute and beautifully made illustrations for free.
More about life than anything else
追忆白 — Run by Jan, an old site friend from more than a decade ago. Opening the site feels like stepping straight into old memories.
香水 — A blogger deeply into collecting Gundam models and mini 4WD cars. It’s hard not to stare at the collection with envy.
弋牧 — A clean black, white, and gray layout with an easy, comfortable feel. The writing has a slightly goofy edge to it.
启福 — Orange and white, simple and bright, a text-focused blog that feels refreshingly clear.
致郁系 — Run by 16, who’s also from Guangzhou. An elegant and delicate site with a distinctly feminine touch.
FONGSOUL — A handsome local blogger who loves sharing everyday life and Cantonese culture.
Jacky Tong — Loves films and also loves money. The site includes quite a few short videos shot by the owner.
拾风 — Another blogger from the same city. The plain, restrained writing contrasts sharply with a love of sports cars.
winegrower — A boy who likes documenting life through words and photos.
木先森 — Pure black and white, light and minimal, with a faint Taiwanese bookish mood.
LinYY — A small site full of books, films, and hand-drawn work the owner loves.
沫 — “Through all seasons, together.” The About Me page is especially fun.
林海草原 — Wide interests, curious about new things, thoughtful, good at listening, and happy to share.
相逢一场 — A very quiet text-only blog whose layout reads almost like poetry.
城市里的游牧民族 — Run by Shuima, who likes boxing and travel, though the site itself feels calm and soft.
Just Snake — Run by Js., a very down-to-earth girl. Into games and baking, with a slightly chaotic sense of humor.
先森博客 — A mix of technical notes and personal thoughts. The custom logo in the blogroll is delightfully strange.
Hannah — A life blog by someone who loves food and exploring the world.
咕咕三原小窝 — Daily life and little fun moments, with a slight anime-style vibe.
日记铺子 — Mostly about everyday life. The posts about the owner’s cat giving birth are vivid and especially entertaining.
蓝卡 — A very loving father. There’s even a dedicated “dad” section recording notes from helping his child study.
YOYLING — A third-year software engineering student sharing bits and pieces of life.
豆腐蒸锅 — The name caught my attention first; the photos kept me there.
迷你日志 — The Typecho theme made by the site owner is clean and crisp.
云帆沧海 — The site logo is lovely. Mostly study notes and reflections on life.
老虎不吃人 — A small site with a strong anime and gaming atmosphere.
羽忆江南 — Run by someone who enjoys audio novels, livestreams, and programming.
李子白了 — A life blog by a post-90s guy with genuinely good writing.
Yamdr — A small site focused on recording feelings and daily impressions.
城市心情 — A personal site with real history behind it, one of those long-running corners of the web.
山水淡炊烟 — A friend first met through site-building more than ten years ago. Some connections really are all about timing.
Susy’s Skin — Another friend from those earlier years, and it’s honestly nice to see the site still around.
猫叔 — The owner keeps a cat named Hotpot. The strange tales on the site are especially enjoyable.
老白啵 — A mix of technical posts and life notes. It went offline once and later came back.
胡家小子 — Mostly technical writing with occasional personal fragments.
JIAYIN’S LIFE — Outstanding photography; nearly every image feels carefully made. The writing is strong too.
小F — A girl living in Japan. The skincare posts are especially fun to read.
燕渡寒潭 — Sherry loves travel and can also cook remarkably well.
美樂地 — Life reflections written with humor and elegance.
叶开楗 — The owner has the same gentle, warm feeling as Natsume from anime. The blog records lots of everyday moments.
云顶天 — Another rare local blogger. Photography, travel, sports—there’s a little of everything.
哥斯拉 — A Godzilla fansite dating back to 1997, with film materials and the owner’s own life updates.
Celia的博客 — Travel journals that are vivid, comforting, and easy to sink into.
冥爻 — Loves drawing and seems fully capable of becoming a professional illustrator someday.
贰拾伍 — Likes rambling and showing off his girlfriend. Very sweet, really.
老麦 — Uses plain, unadorned writing to record daily feelings.
忆往事 — Run by Mr. Chou. The color palette is simple and comfortable; the posts focus on ordinary life.
白熊阿丸的小屋 — A slightly melancholic young man who also likes drawing.
夜语凭栏 — Another veteran personal site, full of more than a decade of life notes and collected interests.
丝诺博了个客 — A wonderfully romantic site name, and the poetry there is genuinely good.
青找 — A blog that records life details through text and images.
长安城下 — Run by Depression, who likes capturing life through photographs and short videos.
云归处 — The layout feels especially good; it looks very much like a custom theme written by the owner.
柳橙睿 — A post-96 blogger deeply interested in new media.
雅余 — Run by Jeff, who enjoys tea and photography, and seems especially fond of classical gardens.
段先森 — A professional-level public shower of affection. His girlfriend Xiaobao makes occasional appearances too.
Kam — Run by Jinjin, who seems like a genuinely fun person. The WordPress themes are full of personality.
纯粹 — Run by Banban, a night owl who loves life and good food. The colors feel soothing.
Jdeal — A black-white-gray layout that looks especially fresh. The owner also seems a little quirky in a good way.
妖业蛋 — Previously known as 图样图森破. Daily life recorded through rich images and text.
邹江博客 — The ink-wash design stands out, and browsing the site feels very clean.
阿锋的小宇宙 — Dark-toned pages paired with a sharp avatar; the whole site has a slightly manly air.
青木 — A space for recording reflections from Qingmu and Annie.
More technical in focus
MR158 — A girl who really loves writing code. Impressive in the kind of way that makes you stare in silence.
那束陽光 — Built by someone who prefers coding to writing words.
海加尔金鹰 — A Java programmer’s blog for technical notes. The newer version is striking.
idealclover — Cuicui’s personal site, with both life posts and technical articles.
异国迷宫的十字路口 — A small site collecting study notes and pieces of everyday life.
周良粥凉 — An older technical blog that updates slowly but has quite a few useful WordPress-related posts.
Advance — A landscape architecture student who is also enthusiastic about programming. Plenty of study notes inside.
梦之源泉 — Run by Meng. Minimal layout, mainly focused on IT articles.
Hoping these missing bloggers come back
If any of them return, I’d love to hear about it.
小确幸 (recently inactive) — Run by hibiku, another pink-lover. I have absolutely no resistance to gentle, feminine sites like this.
zmmio (recently inactive) — Travel, diary, staying home, cats. The two cats there are gloriously chubby.
Louis Han (recently inactive) — A very mature personal website with a wide range of content. The film reviews are especially worth reading.
Hancoh曦回 (recently inactive) — Standing in the middle of a Möbius strip.
Alien Monster (recently inactive) — Started on May 1, mainly for study notes.
河间博客 (recently inactive) — An older blog that had already been running for five years.
鹤望 (recently inactive) — A newer site with a semi-transparent theme that feels full of atmosphere.
飞鱼王子 (recently inactive) — A very traditional personal website. Every visit feels like being pulled back more than ten years.
孤独日记 (recently inactive) — A post-90s guy working in Chengdu; even as a homebody, he still gets out to travel now and then.
刘小备の博客 (recently inactive) — Neat, cute, well-ordered pages. Mostly technical writing with some life posts alongside it.
Bookmarks
设计达人 — A Chinese site for web design tutorials.
Hero Patterns — Great for building custom website background patterns.
十年之约 — A romantic alliance of sites committed to staying online for ten years.
艾欧泽亚 / NGA玩家社区 — A domestic forum hub for Final Fantasy XIV players.
LOFTER — A gathering place for younger Chinese illustrators. It’s also surprisingly easy to run into fellow FFXIV players there.
旧版追忆白论坛 — An old forum from more than ten years ago. Xuan came back.