To celebrate the 1st Anniversary of Portal Hypertension & Cirrhosis (PH&C), we would like to tell the story behind the cover images and extend our sincere thanks to all the authors, reviewers, editorial board members, as well as to the cover illustrator for their tremendous contribution to our journal over the past year. For the inaugural cover image, the vasculature of the portal venous system was designed to resemble the “Silk Road” that linked the East and the West.1 Hepatologists, gastroenterologists, interventional radiologists, surgeons, pathologists, researchers, and other specialists involved, regardless of the country or region, are connected to collaborate on the best science and practice of portal hypertension and cirrhosis. The cover image is a true reflection of the core value of PH&C: to create a community that commits to pursuing innovative research, integrating multidisciplinary practice, and delivering patient-centered care. The cover image for the second issue depicts the transformation of a spleen into a functioning liver realized by tissue engineering.2 Liver transplantation is the most effective treatment for end-stage liver disease; however, organ shortage has been one of the major concerns across the globe. In addition to reviewing the current development and challenges of tissue engineering and its feasibility and superiority in organ transformation,2 the authors' enduring work solved immune rejection and cell donors and exploited the direct reprogramming technique to turn a spleen into a functional liver.3, 4 The cover image for the third issue described the benefit of antibiotic prophylaxis for patients with early cirrhosis and upper gastrointestinal bleeding.5 This updated meta-analysis on 18 studies and 3180 cirrhotic patients found that antibiotic prophylaxis reduced mortality at 6 weeks, risk of infection, and infection-related mortality.5 The idea of this study reminded the illustrators of Butterflies in Love with Flowers, a legendary song poetry in Chinese culture. The painting metaphorically represented the stomach and bleeding as a vase and red flowers while prophylactic antibiotic treatment as a butterfly. Traditional Chinese medicine has a long and rich tradition of treating liver diseases with its distinctive philosophy and clinical methods, dating back to more than 2000 years ago.6 As illustrated in the cover story of the fourth issue, the mechanisms of several traditional Chinese medicine active ingredients and compounds in the treatment of liver fibrosis via hepatic stellate cells (HSCs), including inhibiting HSCs activation, regulating the inactivation of HSCs, and promoting the death of activated HSCs were reviewed.7 Many oriental elements were displayed on the cover, such as Chinese herbs and the Yin-Yang and Five-Element theory in the philosophy of traditional Chinese medicine. As moving forward into our second year, we look forward to continuing working together to provide healthcare professionals with cutting-edge academic advances and the latest insights in the field of portal hypertension and cirrhosis. We believe that with your constant support, PH&C will keep growing into a highly successful international journal step-by-step (Figure 1). None. The author declares no conflict of interest. None.