In this historical city, he spent four years researching the old residential areas and studying the living conditions in the local communities, fostering a respect for tradition and a consideration for human wellbeing.

Having graduated in 2007, he worked at an architectural firm for seven years, during which time he attended an architecture course at Peking University and discovered a vocation that connected his love for landscape with his architecture expertise-classical garden design, a discipline which he says embodies the ultimate consideration for the human living environment.

In 2014, he resigned from his job to go on a two-month field study to Jiangnan, a region south of the Yangtze River that is home to China's most renowned classical gardens.

"When you stay for two months, moving from one classical garden to another, you feel like you're living in the gardens and develop a close connection with them," Zeng says. "For instance, the Canglang Pavilion in Suzhou was specially built in an open area, and listening to the breeze floating across the lake there will offer you an immediate sense of comfort and relief."