Binliu Zhang portrait

Hey, I'm Binliu!

Building things, breaking them, and learning in between.

Born in China, now based in the Netherlands. I write code during the day, chase weird ideas at night, and document the lessons that make it past production.

My Journey

From curiosity to production impact

I’ve always been more interested in why systems work than what they do.

That curiosity led me from studying electronic engineering at UESTC—where hardware was stubborn but honest—to teaching myself web development, which was somehow even more stubborn.

I resist neat labels like “just FE” or “just BE.” I want to know how every layer fits together, so I keep digging. That’s why I taught myself web development while studying Electronic Engineering at UESTC—hardware was tough, the web felt magical, and shipping UI to real users hooked me instantly.

At Douban I learned craftsmanship the hard way: when millions feel every change, you ship with respect.
At Ant Group, I discovered how data and experimentation fuel smarter products. "If you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it" became my mantra.
At Grab, I fell down the rabbit hole of distributed systems -- Go, databases, all the strange beauty of scale.

Now at Just Eat Takeaway, I’m building orchestration layers that help our customer chatbots solve issues automatically.
It’s a mix of architecture, automation, and the constant reminder that “simple” is never easy.

Philosophy

Stay hungry, stay foolish, stay curious

I chase the “aha!” moment. I like questions that refuse to leave me alone,
I design for resilience, document what breaks, and keep sharpening tools for deep work.

What I’m focusing on

  • Designing resilient, large-scale systems
  • Writing tools and docs that outlive me
  • Turning operational pain into automation

I’d love to do more of

  • Blending art and code
  • Writing long-form guides
  • Speaking with the communities that care about craft
Life Beyond Code

The hobbies that recharge me

  • Soundtracking my days with rock, lofi, and electronic playlists
  • Cooking Chinese comfort food that smells like home
  • Pushing one more rep at the gym
  • Cycling Dutch bike lanes whenever the sun feels generous
Contact

Let's talk about the things we build.

Curious about something I’ve shipped or written? Always happy to trade notes or ideas.