Dali designer Zhao Yang brings contemporary architecture to China and Japan

A Yunnan Province-based designer embodies the new generation of young Chinese architects who were educated in the West and are returning home to make a difference.

Like many of his ambitious and idealistic peers, Chinese architect Zhao Yang struck out on his own after graduating from the prestigious Tsinghua University in Beijing and working for a year for his graduate advisor. “I had no idea what kind of architecture I wanted to do. I just thought I was capable of doing anything,” Zhao says, chuckling.