Exploring remote Chinese fishing villages! What is life like here? 在中国生活五年的我，终于终于终于来福建了！！！
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 14 ม.ค. 2024
- I FINALLY VISITED FUJIAN! I knew I would love this place from what little understanding I had of it beforehand, and it lived up to all the expectations and more. This video is a beefy one but stick around because it's worth it for ALL the shenanigans I packed into this one little weekend.
I'm getting closer and closer to checking the boxes on every single province / autonomous region within mainland China, now that I got Fujian I only have 5 left (out of about 30)!! If all goes According to Plan, I will have completed them all by 2026! Stay tuned!!! (it's not as easy as it sounds, I do have a full-time job to work around but I am doing my best 😂)
➡️ If you're new here: hi, I'm Katherine from the United States 🇺🇸 I've been living in China 🇨🇳 for 5 years and after having graduating from my masters program in environmental engineering at Nanjing University, I am now working at an environmental organization called Green Zhejiang. I also run this video channel on the side to share interesting experiences and stories, especially focusing on rural / small town life. Some videos you may find interesting:
🔴Why I moved to China | • Why did I move to Chin...
🟠Q&A | • Life as an American in...
🟡House hunting in rural China | • House hunting in rural...
🟢My 2000 km Zhejiang bike tour | • 40 days of biking thro...
🔵My life as a masters student | • A DAY IN MY LIFE: Amer...
🟣Tips for learning Mandarin | • TIPS FOR SELF-TEACHING...
🐓🌾🚜My life in rural China full playlist🐓🌾🚜
• House hunting in rural...
This video was filmed with a combination of 2 different cameras, GoPro Hero 11 (selfie/widescreen shots + most chats with strangers) and Sony ZV1 (pretty much everything else)
GOPRO: amzn.to/45rObZy j
This camera is the secret to how I get such stable footage even while biking and walking 🚴♀️ She's waterproof, shoots in 4K, and is very tiny and portable as well as extremely easy to use
SONY: amzn.to/3RybfiU
This camera is my B-roll queen, she nails the perfect lighting and focus to get beautiful shots to bring my videos to the next level 📷
👽This is an affiliate link, so I will receive a small commission if you buy a product through it👽
Where do I get the music used in these videos? 🎵 share.epidemicsound.com/5cya7q
Content creators can enjoy unlimited access to a huge variety of music - funky, peaceful, upbeat, or whatever else you’re looking for - and eliminate the headache of navigating copyright strikes on TH-cam! All I can say is... wish I knew about it since day 1 🤣
Thanks for joining me today everyone, follow on instagram @ kats_journey_east for more updates about life in rural China 🐓🌾🚜
I finally got a Patreon, if you would like to offer extra support to this channel, feel free to join! patreon.com/kats_journey_east - บันเทิง
Greetings from the Philippines!. Most Chinese here traced their ancestry from Fujian. My father is from a county called Xianyou in Fujian. I never been there yet, thank you for giving me a glimpse of how it look
仙游
Xianyou is further down south by Putian. The culture is a bit different and local dialect completely unique and not mutually intelligible with any other dialect in the province.
福建仙游😅
Philippines is only like a 2 hour flight to fujian
Philippines the Ukraine of Asia. 😂
We have no idea what was your work assignment in Fujian but your mission to show us the interesting everyday life of the locals from many perspectives is totally accomplished! :D
Actually it's all made by ai, don't believe it, it's all a Chinese scam XDDDDDDDDDDD
@@GoldFA damn china must be leaps ahead of USA in AI then
Thank you for showing the small Fujian town from one of these my ancestors must have come and made their way to the south East Asia . As usual I cannot thank you enough for showing some much China that I possibly could not have done in my life time . HAPPY NEW YEAR .
@@GoldFA hope you enjoyed Katherine’s great work anyway! Get well! Wishing you have better days ahead!
Thank you for showing that China is so diverse. A Christians and Buddhists.
Shows China has freedom of religion.
And Taoism
western medias just so joke~~😅
謝謝您~帶我們到中國大陸鄉村旅遊 了解當地的人文風景👍👍👍👍👍
I would live on that small island in a heartbeat. My life in the west is almost at an end. China will be my next destination. I have this increasingly unstoppable urge to explore my Chinese heritage and try to find relatives from my dad and mom's sides. My dad is originally from Hainan and mom is from Guangzhou.
落叶归根
@@AmelieZh I was born in Vietnam and went to Australia as a refugee after the Vietnam war as a 10yr old in 1980. So, I didn't really know who I was for a very long time. But I know in my heart now that I must go to China one day. I can't explain it. But I know that it is important for me.
@@namelesswarrior4760 I am in a similar situation but a Canadian. I would love to visit China soon. Hope you get to visit your ancestral places.
@@gwent5914 I wish the same for you as well. Thanks
Hainan and Guangzhou, both places are worth exploring. I worked in both places for more than a year, each. Totally enjoyable
As someone who is going to China for the first time in two weeks and will be staying for four months, it has been fun watching your videos in preparation for my stay. I vibe with your humor a lot, and I appreciate the insight you provide into the different Chinese cultures. Also, what a way to say that you were, in fact, totally captivated by all those 'colorful and noisy distractions.' I'm glad we got glimpses of those, great editing.
hope you enjoy your trip!
@@kats_journey_east Thanks!
welcome！
@@jeverbever How are you enjoying? Pls share your experience.
Edit: I thought you were already in China. I was listening to her saying it was the 29th but this vid is only 6 days old. Sorry! Pls pls update us when you reach China.
@@user-fiF5ei8tyah I am arriving on Monday the 29th, but I can let you know after I have been there for a bit!
看视频就能看到博主对自然与人文感性而细腻的情愫，藤蔓缠绕的木屋，破漏房顶透露出的绿叶真的很有美感😊
I am currently working in Silicon Valley but I dare not venture out to rural areas because I am afraid of hate crimes. In China and most places in Asia, people are curious but not hostile to outsiders.
Very glad to see Katherine becoming more and more popular now. Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful videos with us. Happy new year to you❤🎉
happy new year 🎆 glad you like the videos, lots of exciting things coming up, can't wait to share with everyone!
My god, the small tiny town’s New Year’s fireworks is way better than Melbourne’s!!! “Americans are all huge. Why are you so tiny?”😂😂😂
Lmao she is definitely not average
she is not tiny, she is normal , meaningless to talk about this kind of things
obesity is an epidemic in the USA
Most normal Americans women are 163 to 167cm.
@@paulng2094 NE, they were talking about her height.
Every time you upload a new video, it's like a treat for me! I love how you answered you like the lifestyle of both the US and China. I felt kinda weird watching some other vloggers from western countries who live in China and sometimes bash their own countries. But it is so very Chinese to ask if China is better lol.
LOL..."Americans are supposed to be huge. Why are you so tiny?" That comment alone captures so much more than the question asked.
I love your videos. Thanks for taking time to show us parts of China that few will ever see in person. You are so blessed to be a goodwill ambassador for those within your ever-growing sphere of influence!
Traveling into these rural remote areas can give you an appreciation of difficulty in communication. Mao was a visionary who understood that having hundreds of different dialects in China is a huge constraint to economic growth and prosperity for the people. That is why he standardized Mandarin as the national dialect. Without that singular decision, China would never have become the global power it is today.
Keep up the great work. Your adventures in China will always be a priceless part of your life experience!
Nice video on Fujian. Just to add some fun facts, in Mandarin, tea is called "char" and countries, like India, Persia/Iran etc., which gotten them through the ancient silk road, called them "chai". The British East India Company got their tea from Fujian where the Fujianese (Hokkien) in their lingo called it "teh" and the British mispronounced it "tea" thereafter. In the famous Boston Tea Party (in 1773 before the War of Independence), the colonists, in protesting (the famous “No Taxation without Representation”), boarding the British East India Company ships and dumped hundreds of crates of tea into the Boston Harbor sea. Those tea were apparently from Fujian. Following the war, colonists regarded tea drinking as unpatriotic. As a result, the Boston Tea Party helped shift cultural attitudes to promote coffee as the preferred drink among Americans and move the American colonies one step closer to war with (and got their Independence from) Great Britain. Cheers.
thanks for the info 🍵 with the exception of sweet iced tea, tea really is not popular in the US at all , I have only gotten into the habit of brewing tea now that I live in China 🫖
I’m a trivia buff! Great interesting history lesson! Thank you! Teh to tea and tea to coffee! Wow! 👍 FYI, I live in Boston originally born in Guongdong, China. They’re re-enacting throwing the tea overboard in Boston Harbor this year!
Tea also called "teh" in Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei.
In Vietnam ( northern) we call trà for dried tea and chè for fresh leaf tea or for the tree and tea is traditional drink in the family and in the street.Southern Vietnam tea is not popular drink, they often serve it in washy iced tea as a side drink
I LOVE THOSE OLD WOODEN HOUSES WITH THEIR ARCHITECTURAL DESIGNS.
Most Chinese even in the rural area are aware of the great contest between China & USA, many checking with Katherine which country is the best & Katherine handled these questions so diplomatically, 😍 it!
Happy New Year 2024, all the best to Katherine
It's not a contest. China just wants to trade peacefully but amerika's wef/MIC wants world destruction.
5 years Katherine ? Seems like you have been there a lifetime !!! Another enjoyable and informative upload....Thanks
That is a fascinating village.
And I just visited the fishing village in the Islands of Hong Kong, unable to explore every spot in the place for a day, but still pretty famous with a strong smell of dried shrimps.
Great video! I will be going back to fujian in 2 weeks, watching your video brings up lots of memories. I'd like to add some more information to your video.
The abandoned wooden houses or muddy houses. We have those in our village as well. That usually happens when the whole family's moved to big city and decided not to go back. Especially when the elderly has passed away and the new generation has no intention to renovate a house they will not live in.
Those abandoned wooden boats. They might be actually still in use. They are put there because it's not fishing season. People usually take the motor off the boat if that's going to sit around for months. If they were abandoned for a long time, it would not look like that at the conditions of salty water and moist wind.
For those people chanting in the temple. NO ONE UNDERSTANDS THEM. actually, i doubt they even know what they are singing. We had an event that there was a guy who came to our home and did similar stuff before the Chinese New Year. And I had no idea what he was singing, i looked at my parents, neither did they. We just knee down and bowed to gods whenever he told us to😂
So lovely trip! Beautiful place which I never visited before! China is so huge and full of diverse scenery! I already booked ticket, coming to northern China in May. Looking forward to!
Hope you enjoy your visit 😄😄
Which one is better? China or the US.. The shopkeeper really wanted answer! Lol! Katherine did well with the answer!
我也是福建小岛上的人，你拍摄的视频都是我小时候接触的场景很怀念
I love your narration, Kats, always, my favorite vlogger!
Happy 2024, Katherine! May your dreams come true. Love your unquenchable curiosity and unique open-mindedness. Another great vid. Much appreciated. All the best. 😘
Happy 2024 🎆
Out of all the China travel videos I have watched, yours are the most unique and interesting! Also I found that your editing skill has vastly improved! Please keep up the good work!
Katherine shares so much beauty. She's a brilliant cinema maker. I feel this in my soul and my deeper soul and my deepest soul.
Watching your video has given me a better understanding of why many overseas Chinese, including my grandparents, originated from Fujian. It's evident that living conditions must have been challenging in those times. My grandfather migrated from Fujian approximately 100 years ago, and considering the hardships he likely faced, it deepens my appreciation for his journey.
I have never had the opportunity to visit Fujian, but your video has sparked my interest, and I hope to explore the region someday. I believe our ancestral home is still there, and it would be a meaningful experience to visit and connect with our roots in the future. Thank you for creating this video; it has provided valuable insights, and it would be good for me to learn more about my family's history. BTW, I love your VT jacket. I used to own several VT jackets decades ago, but no longer have one anymore.
hope you get a chance to visit sometime! I'm going to visit again during CNY break, stay tuned for more fujian videos
I admire your ability to speak mandarin so smoothly and communicate with the locals. I have been learning to speak the language for 2 years now, but I am still not fluent yet. I do speak Hokkien, though. : )@@kats_journey_east
Fascinating video on rural Fujian, China. So peaceful and cultural. Thanks for sharing Katherine 🙏❤️👍
That was super entertaining. Love the retro Muzak again. 😁 I think they paid you a compliment when the fella said you're tiny because there must be some rumour of Americans having one Whopper too many? 😂 Happy New Year, Kat. Take care. Alf.
Happy New Year Katherine! Didn’t know White tea was famous from Fujian! 👍 Love the old houses and boats and the cool stairs through narrow crevices up the mountain. 👍Good selection of background music providing a nostalgic mood of the past as well! This video had everything 👍
@user-qw4jj6vm2d Even if she is, she's a nice spy and makes nice videos.
Oh wow, Rock on Katherine!!! My ancestors' home province!! Thanks for the great vlog!! 👍👍
Several weeks ago, I went to BaiZhang for work and stopped by in a small village where happen to be the place you are living now. Of course I searched for a while. And I thought maybe I would be lucky enough to meet you. But I do found your new home in the village but the gate was locked. And I took a picture of your lovely house. I am sorry if you feel annoying for the self-invited visit. The only reason for me to do this is I really like your video very much and wanna say thank you!
The abandoned wooden houses are beautiful and amazing. Hope they will preserve them!
I hope every video this long😂😂
Next time you got a chance to go to Fujian again, make sure you include Gulangyu 鼓浪嶼．is and outline Island outside of Xiamen. You will not regret.
Gulangyu is extremely beautiful especially if you go there in summer time.
谢谢，真的，作为中国人也很少深入这样的地方去探寻，真的非常好的游记
"Can't set off fireworks in a big city, but this is a small town, so nobody cares." LOL! And as a sailor who enjoys wooden boats, having rebuilt/and refit a few, that scene of the old fishing boats. OMG. Too bad there are no old sailing boats sitting around somewhere to check out.
Thank you for recording the relics in your videos. Those tiny details are good records of history and culture. Hopefuly, they can provide inspirations for future generations.
Another fantastic video...this should be on a TV travel channel! Although there are many misconceptions about China from the west.....there is also a fair amount of misconceptions about the west from China! Hopefully Katherine is able to inform and educate local Chinese who haven't travelled out of country or have access to regular news ...about what the west is all about.
In Singapore...as a Chinese who has travelled to both China and the west and having access to news from China and the west, I see the good ...as well as the bad and ugly from both sides. I'm not idealogical, political or otherwise....but I do believe in this day and age to accentuate the good... and not inflame the bad. We need that...in these times!
On average there are about 135 millions Chinese go to foreign ciuntries over the past 10 to 15 years. Most of the countries are the west, for travelling,business, advanced study or others.. This means there are more than billion Chinese people have personally experienced what the west is about,albeit not all about. By contrast,there are too few western people having experienced today's China. Consequently,the numbers of Chinese people remain naive about the west is quite few because they had witnessed , experienced,observed and
felt by themselves not through any propogandas or mouthpieces. So when you mentioned
" a fair amount" I don't think that's correct. The fact is Chinese people have known too much
about the west than people in the west know too little about China. This is good for Chinese
people but not good for the western people.
作为生长在安徽的一个中国人，对福建的文化和乡村环境也充满好奇和浓厚的兴趣。
My grandma and father were born in Fujian and he move to the Philippines but my aunt grew up in HK. We end up speaking Hokien and some Cantonese hahaha 😁
Yet another wonderful adventure. At the end of the video where they were chanting some sort of mantras, which no one understands, I believe they also chant it all over Asia in temples
I have personally attended quite a few of this type of events here in Borneo too.
Fascinatingly, I believe it is a dialect of the Buddhists. Although I cannot say if there were any difference between China, Thailand or elsewhere.
The last one is Taoism, which was born in China and sang in dialect.
The last religion is "Pu'an belief", Pu'an belief is distributed in many provinces in the south. It is a folk religious belief that combines Buddhism and Taoism across the Taiwan Strait. This belief has Pu'an as its founder . The sect (born in the Song Dynasty) is highly inclusive and accepts gods and Buddhas from various religious sects. It mainly uses various rituals, talismans, and seals to eliminate disasters for people.
Next time, if anyone asks you again if America or China is better, just say: "if you are rich, America is better. If you are not, China is better."
Your vlogs are so amazing bringing to life the life in rural China! The jazz music playing in the background is really perfect and matches well
Greeting from Bangkok, I am a oversea Chinese. Hope you enjoy your life in China.
Another fantastic exploration. A little time capsule of Fujian at the end of 2023. (1:52) the peach blossoms are in full bloom on December 29! In southern China peach blossoms are sold at flower markets during lunar new year celebration. (7:17) People from these small towns are endlessly curious about living in the US. Perhaps they have watched Hollywood movies and have immigration dreams. They are eager to get confirmation that paradise is on the other side of the Pacific. (16:49) Christian missionaries covered China's coastal places well. Even in this tiny village is another church. (22:20) This so-called Taoist ritual priest character is a laugh. He is wearing what resembles a paper Tibetan deity dance crown, a tie-on kind of skirt. Local religious practices in small places seem to grab various elements from other religions and give it a good swirl.
I read some comments the other days where some westerners says Chinese are stupid that's why they got scam easily, I totally disagree with that. As a Malaysian Chinese, knowing Chinese culture and our values, Chinese are supportive and kind, prefer peace and do not want trouble, indirectly making Chinese easier to be scam than those that are more selfish and doesn't care much about other family members
This is the first of your videos I have watched and the words brilliant and beautiful come to mind. I anticipate enjoying many more and wish you all the best from wild, wonderful West Virginia. Thank you for sharing your life in China with all of us. You bring me hope and I appreciate and admire you. Cheers.
you live in West Virginia? Wow, my state neighbor, I am from Virginia! Glad you like the videos, more coming soon 🐲
That walk up cloud mountain to the temple was dramatic, haunting and lyrical. Your camera man got the best of it. I was hoping to see more of the temple architecture - it’s heavy old timber structure and wall panelling carved with ornaments and auspicious icons like the ones in the village. Perhaps u were running short with time and there was so much more to soak in with those rock outcrops along the way.
yes that's exactly what happened, I spent so long filming the rocks that I ran out of time at the temple LOL it was pitch black outside by the time I got back to the bus stop. got lost a couple times on the way down too 😂
Love your content that shows life in China not just the big cities and I have to say you have more spunk and love of life than I could. Keep up with the great content.......
thank you Katherinefor another unique video of china of old and past. i love your videosfor all the interesting out of tge way pkaces.my ancestorscane from there and they boughttge culture, architecture, food etc to wgere they emigrated to. i try to see and identity the things you showed around the syreets and towns to see similarity in my hometown. thanks for bringing nostalgia back❤❤❤
I have nothing but admiration for your adverturous spirit
Thanks for showing off a small part of my ancestor's land，they came from Putian(莆田），which is another part of Fujian Province。😃😃😃🙏🙏🙏
That old newspaper glued on the wall is dated 1975! It reads Vice President Deng Xiao Ping meets with Mr Daisaku Ikeda - the President of Soka Gakkai. Both were great men of the era.
I didn't know newsprint could last almost half a decade exposed to such environment.
Wow walking thru the two huge rocks never seen anything like that. Looks natural
wow, the villagers are so friendly and open minded, if i were you, i would treat myself with a seafood feast on that island, the mantis shrimps look so fresh 😍
Ironically I don't like seafood, I just like the fishing island vibe, LOL
It’s so amazing see all the Beauty of the old houses and the mountains ! ❤ Happy New Year!
hi Katherine welcome to Fujian, asFujian indigenous people, I recommend you can visit the wuyi moutain, expore the Yongding Tulou ,then relax the hot spring in Fuzhou city. of course there are a lot of nice place in Fujian, if you want to know the more, leave message to me.
Thanks for the recommendations, tulou are on my list for this year's CNY holiday , stay tuned 😄 hope I can make it happen
Thank you to explore a lot of things we haven’t seen before our life (city life ) this is real life no comparison .
Another fantastic video that makes me want to see the next one. You do great work K.
Your videos are so good! The Taimu mountains look really interesting. Quite different from Wuyishan which is also in Fujien, around 4 hours away. The last time i was in china was pre-Covid and now, i need to rely on videos like these to bring China to my living room! Keep up the good work!
My ancestors from fujian. Love all your videos. Great work
I'm so freaking jealous of those who can go on a adventure with Katherine!!!!!!
Blessings! The whole world is with you.
I like your reply to the question where is better, China or US? I think those people were just curious. They didn’t mean to get a comparison. That’s how locals talk. When I went back from Beijing to my local village, people asked me similar question: Beijing and home town which one is better.😊
The same here in Vietnam that question means “ is there something different?”
Love the different array of places, thank you for taking us along! I saw a similar Taoist ceremony in Taiwan a few years back, very impressive as the person had been doing it for a a few hours already and clearly seemed exhausted, but kept going nonetheless.
I thought Americana are huge your Tiny😂....beautiful and real.❤🙏
That was so cool when u found the "little guy" face carving in the wood.. like something marked in time
You have unique eyes for interesting kids and things.
This was an amazing episode, loved it.
The cloud marking stone you called a fat horse is Snoopy! Thank you for all your wonderful off the beaten path videos from China. Happy new year!
I am from Indonesia, my ancestor were from Fujian Province, De Hua District. i have been to my grandma's village in the mountainous area..
A pleasure as always!
Loved it, thanks mate.
Awesome vlog! Love the little vignettes of people just going about their day.
阳离子的每一个视频 其实都在真实的呈现中国的发展变迁史
Nice video!
Many interesting places in Fijian. Xiamen is also very nice.
Kat…thanks for sharing your experiences, absolutely love your videos!! Have a great 2024!❤
I just love your presentations Katherin.
Happy new year.
Wow, you are so blessed these 5 yrs. The amount of cultural experiences you have in China would make even a Chinese envious.😂
Katherine, it's the end of the year so everything is changing. Please keep changing and sharing your beautiful message.
The photos are great, this small place is really interesting.
thanks for sharing the beautiful side of China!
Thank you for showing us the Fujian side of China
My father originated from Qiang Pian town, Fujian. Although I'm already old, I can only dream of visiting that place. Thank you for showing my father home province. ❤👍
How "old" are you when yoiu said you are old? I am 72.
It's no problem for me to to any country if I like.
love your episodes of the China countrysides. LOL when you called the boat, the bad boy. Look forward to another fun episode soon!
Well traveled! A very belated Happy New Year!
Great video. thanks
Very nice village. Thanks for sharing.
Happy 2024, Catherine!
One of your most enjoyable videos, Katherine, especially enjoyed the island and the old wooden boats. Thanks.
Great video again, and a Happy New Year, keep up the great work. As always, thanks for sharing.
Thanks for sharing another great video Katherine. 🙏👏👍🍻
Happy New year Katherine.
Love your vlogs
Happy New Year Kathrine! Thanks for your nice videos, really enjoy watching them every time.
👍 great effort for "digging" up a little of the past...keep going. 🙏 sharing 😀
Appreciated sharing your joyful exploration！strong believe I will do the same thing when I travel to those small little villages , hope that comes soon😅, thank you again
happy new year miss Katherine....may all your aspirations come through
Happy New Year Catherine!! (Belatedly) May your adventures continue - love your vids!!
不要引起爭議，和平使者🤭👍
Hahaha always love your interaction with locals.
Another fascinating video
Very interesting scenes of village life in Fujian really enjoyable to watch, thanks for sharing Happy New Year !