About us

Du Chinese started from a love story.

In 2008, Peter was living in Japan and studying Japanese. He loved learning Japanese, but as he practiced reading, he became frustrated with the time spent looking up characters in the dictionary. He felt like he was spending more time looking things up than actually reading, stopping every 5 minutes just to look up a single character.

While in Japan, Peter met his wife, Yueyuan. They fell in love and Peter has studied Chinese since 2009. The same frustrations he felt studying Japanese also applied to Chinese. There had to be a better way.

Yueyuan is originally from China and was working in Japan as an editor of Chinese language learning material and a Chinese teacher. In her spare time, she liked to write short stories. In Peter’s spare time, he liked to code apps. They realized that they could combine their skills and create a Chinese reading practice app!

Now, they have two beautiful children, a son and daughter, that they love spending time with and watching grow.

The Du Chinese team has grown a lot since it was created in 2015. We have been working hard to continually make improvements and add new and interesting stories. We are grateful to all our app users and are committed to creating the ultimate Chinese reading app for you!

Product team

Yueyuan | Co-Founder

Yueyuan holds a Master's degree in Comparative Linguistics and leads content planning and development at Du Chinese. Yueyuan is responsible for the content in Du Chinese and has written more than a thousand of our lessons. She has experience both as a long time language learner and as a teacher. She loves jazz dance and bubble tea. Her favorite TV drama is 琅琊榜 (Nirvana in Fire) which she has watched more than 10 times.

Peter | Co-Founder

Peter leads product development at Du Chinese, drawing on a decade of experience in backend, frontend, and app development. With a Master's degree in Industrial Engineering and Management, he combines technical expertise with business knowledge. Peter's passion for language learning is evident through his dedication to studying Japanese and Chinese for over 15 years. In his free time, he enjoys bouldering, learning jazz piano, and eating 黄飞红香脆椒 while watching Japanese TV shows.

Antonina | Product Designer

Antonina takes care of user research, user experience, and strategic design. She is always striving to understand users’ needs and turn them into useful and fun experiences. She has a master’s in Psychology and many years of learning Chinese under her belt. She took a gap year to learn and experience life in Taiwan and fell in love with people, food, and Chinese zither 古箏. In addition to knitting, her free time is filled with learning about Chinese traditional music, cuisine, and costumes.

Lily | Marketing Director

Lily holds a dual degree in Strategic Communications and Chinese. While teaching English as a second language in China, she discovered her love of language learning. She hopes to one day be fluent in Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese, and Korean. Lily loves any type of art project including knitting, painting, making earrings, or sewing her own clothes. A perfect Saturday afternoon includes cooking a delicious meal, watching anime, and studying Chinese and Japanese.

Lukasz | Lead App Developer

Łukasz Szymczuk, a Mobile Software Engineer and semi-professional mountain biker from Poland. With his expertise in creating mobile applications he has gained recognition as an innovative problem-solver in the tech industry. In addition to his software development pursuits, Łukasz passionately pursues mountain biking and even participates in the Mountain Bike World Cups. He embraces the tranquility of nature and enjoys exhilarating biking trails.

Writing team

Amy

Amy graduated from Guangxi University with a master's degree in Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages . She has taught Chinese in Thailand and Indonesia, and worked in Confucius Institute of Thailand. Now she is a Chinese teacher for overseas students in China. Telling Chinese stories and sharing Chinese culture are her goals. We hope her words can help you to know more about China and love it!

Hannah

Hannah started to work as full-time Mandarin teacher and writer six years ago in Beijing, China. She enjoys working in the intercultural communication field. Some of her hobbies include rock music, Chinese calligraphy and jogging. Her favorite books are Eight Million Ways to Die, Dreams of Red Mansions and China: A Macro History.

Jane

Jane lives in Shenzhen and loves writing and Chinese culture. Her major is in Chinese Language & Literature with a Bachelor of Arts degree. She has more than 8 years of writing experience, and more than 10 years of work experience in international trade. She now teaches Chinese in Shenzhen to students aged 13 to 23 from various countries. She likes teaching Chinese and enjoys sharing Chinese culture with students.

Emma

As a Chinese teacher and a language learner, Emma is keen on storytelling. She graduated from Soochow University with a master degree in linguistics. She loves traveling, playing piano, and watching movies in her spare time. Swimming is her new hobby because she dreams of scuba-diving one day.

Translation team

Alvina

Alvina has ancestral roots in Hong Kong. Within her university major in Chinese Studies, she completed a winter intensive unit at Fudan University, Shanghai. She loves travel, art, food, and spending time with family and friends – separately, or all at once!

Emily

Emily is an undergraduate student at the University of California, Los Angeles, double majoring in Asian languages & linguistics and statistics. She grew up speaking Mandarin at home and going to Chinese school, but her passion for Chinese was initially sparked by interest in Chinese TV shows, music, and sports teams. Her hobbies include doing and watching gymnastics, playing board games, and eating good food. Her favourite Chinese TV show is The Rap of China, and her favourite food is hot pot.

Mark

Mark is our head translator and makes sure the translations are up to par. Originally from the UK, he first came to Taiwan to learn Chinese in 2005 and never went back. His hobbies include exploring Taiwan's beautiful mountains with his dog Wang Wang. His favorite Taiwanese meal is 刈包 (pork belly bun) washed down with a Taiwan beer.

Natalie

Natalie was the first translator and proofreader on the translation team. Her love of languages led her to begin studying Chinese in 2008, and she has never looked back. During exchange studies in Beijing, she first tasted her favorite Chinese dish Zhajiangmian (炸酱面). Natalie is also an avid reader, and has translated a novel from Chinese into Swedish.