China Man, 21, “retires,” moving to the mountains from high-pressure city life

A twenty-one-year-old Chinese guy has “retired,” moving to the Guizhou hills and eschewing the drudgery of city life. Liu Youwen moved to the wealthiest region in China, Guangdong, three years ago from his village of Xiaxixiang in Guizhou province, according to a CNN article. As a high school dropout, he made an effort to make ends meet in the city but was unable to find employment. Liu ultimately had jobs as a construction worker, an auto mechanic, and a clothes manufacturer.

He made the decision to go back to his hometown’s surrounding hills in 2022, leaving everything behind. Liu experienced criticism from his family, particularly from his brother, but he said that he wanted to leave the competitive rat race and live a “simple life”.

“My time was not my own when I used to work at the factory from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. plus overtime. The sounds of birds singing are now what I get to wake up to,” Liu said to CNN.

He does, however, face the challenges of mountain living.

The electrical issue came first. By surrounding his home with solar panels, Liu overcome that. His family put CCTV cameras around the home out of concern for his safety, particularly at night.

Liu took inspiration from the 18 million YouTube followers that Chinese YouTuber and influencer Li Ziqi has amassed via posting videos on rural living. Every week, Liu also posts a vlog on his time spent in the mountains.

Liu can be seen constructing a pig enclosure and engaging with his two pet dogs, Lucky and Flower, in some of his recordings, according to the CNN article. In addition, he produces veggies like garlic and cabbage and posts footage of recipes like sweet potatoes.

Since he has access to television and his animals keep him company, Liu said he never gets lonely. With 350,000 likes on all of his social media platforms since September, the 21-year-old has a sizable online fan base.

The “lying flat” (or “tanging” in Mandarin) trend gained enormous popularity among young people in China in 2021, and Liu is the newest member of this group. It exhorts people to defy the expectations from society to put in a lot of effort, get married, have kids, and own property.

“Life in the mountains is much better than city life – even drinking water costs money in the city,” remarked the politician.