Cities
Junjie Ma currently resides in Fairfax, Virginia. Over his life, he has lived primarily in Jinan and Minneapolis. Both cities share a notable association with water: Jinan is known as the "City of Springs" (泉城), while Minneapolis sits in Minnesota — the "Land of 10,000 Lakes."
Arts
Junjie Ma participated in China's National Unified Entrance Examination for Arts Programs, with a declared concentration in theatrical directing and screenwriting for film and television.
Although the examination did not ultimately result in enrollment in an arts program, the experience proved formative: it kindled a sustained interest in the humanities and social sciences that continues to shape his research today, and prompted early reflection on the role and agency of human individuals amid accelerating technological change.
He holds a particular appreciation for the works of Philip K. Dick and Mo Yan.
Video Game
Junjie Ma is an avid — if self-admittedly unskilled — video game player. His first encounter with games came in 2000, with The Legend of Sword and Fairy serving as his introduction to the medium; his first online game was Fantasy Westward Journey. The title to which he has devoted the most hours is League of Legends: having been a player for fourteen years, he now engages with it primarily through watching esports broadcasts and through Teamfight Tactics.
This long engagement with games has informed a broader intellectual interest in gamification. Specifically, whether game design principles can meaningfully enhance productivity in technology-mediated tasks, and what other consequences, intended or otherwise, such approaches might carry.