[Video/The South]

What does "home" mean when you live halfway across the world? For Wim Peeters, consul general of Belgium in Guangzhou, it is not a formal display of grandeur, but a warm, growing ''private museum'' filled with stories collected across the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Inside his residence, East and West engage in a quiet dialogue. A classic Chinese antique cabinet has been transformed into a bar stocked with hundreds of Belgian gins and beers, a perfect metaphor for his diplomatic mission.

''For people from Belgium, I show them China. For Chinese visitors, I show a bit of Belgium,'' he explains. From African woodcarvings to terracotta figures found in Guangzhou's Liwan market, each item represents a preserved fragment of local life and history.

Beyond collecting, Peeters finds home in daily rituals. After work, he often walks through the nearby Pearl River Park. ''You can forget you're in a big city, smell nature, and enjoy the quiet for a while. It helps me switch off,'' he says. These moments of calm, along with the openness of local residents, have made Guangzhou feel genuinely welcoming. ''Even when they see I'm a foreigner, people still try to help. That friendliness makes me feel at home.''

Like Tintin, the adventurous Belgian comic hero, Peeters continues to explore whether tasting Cantonese food, celebrating local festivals, or discovering lesser-known cities across the GBA. ''I still have a lot to discover,'' he says with a smile. ''It's becoming my home.'' For him, home is not a place you arrive at, but a collection of memories, curiosities, and connections built over time.