I spent CNY in rural China with strangers

Support me directly: www.patreon.com/TheJourneyOfJake
Billi Billi: 韩森山在中国
Instagram: the.journeyofjake
I journeyed solo to a town I'd never heard of, to spend Chinese New Year with a family I had never met. I put more effort than usual into this video because the experience was so special. I hope you enjoy watching.
0:00 Coming up
1:15 Backstory
3:18 The Journey Begins
4:50 Nayun Town
5:35 On the way to meet the family
6:10 The Coffee Shop
6:50 Avocado Coffee
7:00 Heading up into the mountains
9:35 Dinner with a view
11:12 New Years Eve in a small Chinese town
12:57 Some very surprised locals
13:25 Fresh Food Market
13:43 What to bring to dinner?
14:27 A change of plans...
15.12 In the car on the way to dinner
16:11 I was the only one who dressed up
16:47 Learning each others languages
18:14 What have I learned from this experience?

[@nadiak2599]

Thanks for sharing these videos Jake. Unlike many parts of the world, it's great that there're stil many places like this in China, where it is safe to travel to places surrounded by people you'd never met.. where people are genuine and friendly. Enjoy and please keep sharing.

[@heheheke09]

People are genine and freindly, that's make us as human. Thank you China

[@quietlives]

Menglian is a beautiful town. The moment I arrived there, I decided to extend my stay.

[@kakajusaiyy]

Really good videos! Fantastic musics

[@thejourneyofjake]

Thanks! Finding songs is the part where I probably spend the most time

[@tristans7153]

Wow, really great video. I miss China.

[@thejourneyofjake]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@ZhuLongPeng]

Wow！ So 森山 is your chinese name！ good! Thanks for your sharing CNY to the people across the world.

[@yapsiauwsoengie6507]

Google translate identify it as japanese Moriyama tho

[@thejourneyofjake]

You're right! I didn't realise it was a Japanese name until long after I arrived. I just chose it because I love forests 森林 and mountains 山 😁

[@ZhuLongPeng]

@@thejourneyofjake Good name! In China, 森 and 山 indicate that they can create everything in the world!

[@grahamhines6528]

Great video Jake. I can’t wait for the next one. Great insights into the cultural differences while pointing out the fundamental human similarities.

[@lynchlee7207]

哇，森山，你最后总结的话虽然是用英语说的，但是我能从文字中感觉出来你真的是抒发了真情实感，有一种很独特的诗意。

[@biglance]

Yi women are beautiful, good job on getting there, peace.

[@tlforge3446]

Mate, such great video!!!

[@thejourneyofjake]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@raideepu4]

"We all put our pants on one leg at a time". Yeah, we are all human beings.

[@beautifuldream108]

Cherries 🍒 is red and apple for safe and sound meaning... So you are bringing a safety to family for the whole year. 😊

[@thejourneyofjake]

Oh I see, thanks!

[@user-qo1eo8he7n]

喜欢这种娓娓道来的叙事方式

[@thejourneyofjake]

我为配音脚本付出了很多心血，所以看到你的评论我很高兴，谢谢你。

[@ajs-qv5fe]

great video, jake, you are so lucky and the chinese ppl are super hospitable and accommodating, the free bus ride is epic

[@techjunkie1815]

It’s Asian culture in general… be respectful and respect is returned to you✌️

[@ajs-qv5fe]

@@techjunkie1815 yes, thats the experience i had when i visited china, the chinese ppl are so easy to get along, no baggage, love it, but i really hate the spitting 😬😬😬

[@antiimperialism2739]

Thanks for sharing! Looking forward to more travelogues from remote areas of China.

[@anjunadeep.8384]

Thank you for documenting and sharing with us a different side of CHINA. Am a big fan ! Keep up the good work.!

[@thejourneyofjake]

Thanks! Plenty more to come

[@garethl738]

You’re one adventurous guy. You’re really open to new experiences. Loved your video. 👍🏼

[@thejourneyofjake]

Thanks heaps 😀

[@revenchou8798]

If you are still in China next year, you are welcome to visit my hometown in the countryside in southern Anhui for the New Year! We have the custom of bench dragons, which is very interesting! The atmosphere there is completely different from Yunnan. I am glad that you enjoyed your time in China!

[@lynchlee7207]

very beautiful

[@amandagrant4331]

China is a very good country

[@Camus886]

You Chinese improve a lot❤Great job

[@thejourneyofjake]

Thank you!

[@aprianto1985]

Great explore

[@garethl738]

From 15:42 - 15:47, the architecture looks quite similar to northern Thai or Laotian. Very interesting that folks in Yunnan and Thailand / Laos share similarities

[@thejourneyofjake]

Definitely some similarities, hey? Beautiful parts of the world

[@Tinpinming]

i'm reeeeeally liking your vids =)

[@thejourneyofjake]

Thank youuuu

[@LW78321]

Really enjoyed your journey exploring new places. Really loved the part where you were teaching the locals English and they were teaching you their home dialect 😊

[@thejourneyofjake]

Isn't language fun? Glad you liked it

[@ivanzhang7314]

An excellent journey, Yunnan people are always very hospitable, which reminds me of my experience of going to Yunnan more than a decade ago.

[@thejourneyofjake]

Definitely agree! Such a beautiful place

[@Pink-Sushi-jp]

So remote and inaccessible but the coffee house looks touristy

[@puweiting]

❤❤😂😂🎉🎉

[@ITeachChinese]

The pronunciations of apple and peace in Chinese are similar. Having an apple means having peace.

[@thejourneyofjake]

That makes sense! How about cherries?

[@user-fi7xr2ye5p]

The colors of cherries are red and purple, which usually mean luck and happiness​@@thejourneyofjake

[@jarekweng8562]

HAHA，the bus you took actually made in Xiamen ,"Gloden Dragon"

[@user-ie3vy8nl3b]

Hi Jake, often see you in XMU, didn't expect to see your video on youtube😊

[@thejourneyofjake]

Say hi next time! 👋😁

[@user-ie3vy8nl3b]

Hi Jake, often see you in XMU, didn't expect to see your video on youtube

[@thejourneyofjake]

Say hi next time 👋

[@mechannel7046]

Really enjoyed your video. Sub'd

[@thejourneyofjake]

I'm glad! Thanks

[@michaeljiang960]

Fantastic video, you have the advantage of speaking mandarin and be able to communicate with the locals. You deserve much more followers. Open an account in Bilibili and/or Toutiao please.

[@thejourneyofjake]

Thanks for the kind words! 🙏 My Billi Billi is 韩森山在中国. I actually haven't heard of Toutiao - is that similar to b站？

[@michaeljiang960]

@@thejourneyofjake Toutiao is the sister app of Douyin. B站is Bilibili.

[@chrislarry05]

牛啊老哥

[@thejourneyofjake]

谢谢🙏

[@user-rs6eh2so2q]

拍的真好，b站有账号吗，应该有百万粉丝

[@lynchlee7207]

这哥们对于中国人特有的那种感情理解的很深刻，不带任何先见之明的傲慢和理解

[@okowell]

@@lynchlee7207 我理解有问题吗 不带任何先见之明的 傲慢和理解啥意思，好矛盾的一句话

[@thejourneyofjake]

我的b站是“韩森山在中国” 但这些视频不像 KZbin 那样是最新的. 希望能尽快赶上

[@LW78321]

What am I seeing at 1:47? Drone shots of farming fields?

[@thejourneyofjake]

Those are actually the Yuanyang rice fields in southern Yunnan. Working on putting that video together soon!

[@LW78321]

@@thejourneyofjake thanks for clarifying! Looks really interesting

[@Trumppower]

Yukkkk.. You need a strong stomach besides that OK video.

[@jingsongyang876]

great Jake， did you go anywhere during may day holiday?

[@thejourneyofjake]

Thanks! Nah i thought about it but everywhere was super expensive to travel. Just ended up staying on campus editing, still so many videos yet to edit 😅