Man has a tendency to try to give clear reasons to be rational, but often you can see how all those reasons are not convincing and turn out to be a big nonsense.

My understanding of Chinese history is limited. So far, I have only scratched its surface; I wish I could find out more.

I believe [the architecture firm] Herzog and de Meuron and our collaboration made the product the best it could be.

My situation gives me certain ideas about beauty or the excitement of life, but that doesn't mean other people can necessarily appreciate it.

Somehow, we [ Tan Dun and director Chen Kaige] were all privileged at the time; we could be outside of China. But at the moment, we had no sense of what the future was going to be like.

The world is sphere, has no East or West.

In an environment without public platform nor protection, the individual is the most powerful and most responsible.