中國年輕人選擇擺脫國內的激烈競爭和壓力，追求全球游牧生活方式 (2/2)

Recently Yahoo News on-line reported the following:

Young Chinese opt out of the rat race and pressures at home to pursue global nomad lifestyle (2/2)

Fri, July 28, 2023 at 2:14 a.m. PDT

(continue)

Armonio Liang left the western Chinese city of Chengdu in landlocked Sichuan province for the Indonesian island of Bali, a popular digital nomad destination. His Web3 social media startup was limited by Chinese government restrictions while his use of cryptocurrency exchange apps drew police harassment.

Moving to Bali gave the 38-year-old greater freedom and a middle-class lifestyle with what might be barely enough money to live on back home.

“This is what I cannot get in China,” said Liang, referring to working on his laptop on the beach and brainstorming with expatriates from around the world. “Thousands of ideas just sprouted up in my mind. I had never been so creative before.”

He also has enjoyed being greeted with smiles.

“In Chengdu, everyone is so stressed. If I smiled at a stranger, they would think I am an idiot,” he said.

Life overseas is not all beach chats and friendly neighbors, though. For most young workers, such stays will be interludes in their lives, Thompson said.

“They can’t have kids, because kids have to go to school,” Thompson said. “They cannot fulfill their responsibilities to their parents. What if their aging parents need help? They eventually will get a full-time job back home and get called back home because of one of those things.”

Zhang said she faces pressure to get married. Liang wants his parents to move to Bali with him.

“It’s a big problem,” Liang said. “They worry they will be lonely after moving out of China and worry about medical resources here.”

Huang Wanxiong, 32, was stranded on Bohol Island in the Philippines for seven months in 2020 when air travel halted during the pandemic, and he spent his time learning free diving, which involves diving to great depths without oxygen tanks.

He eventually flew home to the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, but lost his job at a private tutoring company after the government cracked down on the industry in 2021. His next gig was driving more than 16 hours a day for a ride-hailing business.

“I felt like a machine during those days,” Huang said. “I can accept a stable and unchanging life but I cannot accept not having any hope, not trying to improve the situation and surrendering to fate.”

Huang returned to the Philippines in February, escaping family pressures to get a better job and find a girlfriend in China. He renewed his Bohol Island friendships and qualified as a dive instructor.

But without Chinese tourists to teach and no income, he flew home again in June.

He still hopes to make a living as a diver, possibly back in Southeast Asia, though he also may agree to his parents' proposal to emigrate to Peru to work in a family-run supermarket.

Huang recalled he once surfaced too quickly from a 40-meter (131-foot) dive and his hands trembled from a dangerous lack of oxygen, known as hypoxia. The lesson he took was to avoid rushing and maintain a steady climb. Until his next move, he plans to use that free diver discipline to counter the anxieties of living in China.

“I will apply the calm I learned from the sea surrounding that island to my real life,” Huang said. “I will maintain my own pace.”

(Yucheng Tang, The Associated Press)

Translation

（繼續）

Armonio Liang 離開中國西部內陸城市四川省成都，前往印度尼西亞巴厘島，這是一個受歡迎的數字游牧目的地點。 他的 Web3 社交媒體初創公司受到中國政府的限制，而他使用的加密貨幣交易應用程序則招致了警方的騷擾。

搬到巴厘島給這位 38 歲的他帶來了更大的自由和中產階級的生活方式，而他的錢在家鄉只可能勉強維持生活。

Liang 說: “這是我在中國得不到的” ，他指的是在海灘上用筆記本電腦工作並與來自世界各地的外籍人士進行頭腦風暴。 “成千上萬的想法在我的腦海中湧現。 我以前從未如此有創造力。”

他也很享受到微笑的歡迎。

他說: “在成都，每個人的壓力都很大。 如果我對陌生人微笑，他們會認為我是個白痴” 。

不過，海外生活並不全是海灘聊天和友好的鄰居。 Thompson說，對於大多數年輕工人來說，這樣的停留將是他們生活中的插曲。

Thompson說: “他們不能生孩子，因為孩子必須上學” 。 “他們無法履行對父母的責任。 如果年邁的父母需要幫助怎麼辦？ 他們最終會在國家裡找到一份全職工作，並因為其中一件事情而被叫回家。”

Zhang說她面臨著結婚的壓力。 Liang希望他的父母和他一起搬到巴厘島。

Liang說: “這是一個大問題” 。 “他們擔心離開中國後會感到孤獨，擔心這裡的醫療資源。”

2020年，由於航空旅行在病毒大流行期間停止，32歲的Huang Wanxiong在菲律賓Bohol Island滯留了七個月，他把時間花在學習自由潛水上，即在沒有氧氣瓶的情況下潛水到很深的地方。

他最終飛回了中國南方城市廣州的家，但在2021 年政府打擊家私人補習公司行業後，他失去工作。他的下一份工作是每天駕駛超過16 小時的網約車業務。

Huang說: “那些日子我感覺自己就像一台機器” 。 “我可以接受穩定不變的生活，但我不能接受沒有任何希望，不能接受不努力地改善現狀，向命運投降。”

Huang 於二月回到菲律賓，逃離了家庭要求在中國找到更好的工作並找到女朋友壓力。 他與Bohol Island 恢復了情誼，並獲得了潛水教練資格。

但由於沒有中國遊客上課，也沒有收入，他於6月再次飛回國。

他仍然希望以潛水員的身份謀生，可能會回到東南亞，儘管他也可能會同意父母的提議，移民到秘魯，在一家家庭經營的超市工作。

Huang回憶說，有一次他從 40 米（131 英尺）的潛水中浮出水面，速度太快，雙手因嚴重缺氧（稱為低酸素症）而顫抖。 他吸取的教訓是避免匆忙並保持穩定的爬升。 在下一步行動之前，他計劃利用自由潛水員的紀律來應對在中國生活的焦慮。

Huang說： “我將會從島嶼周圍的海洋中學到的平靜運用到我的現實生活中。” “我會保持自己的節奏。”

              So, there is a growing number of young Chinese moving overseas to escape the country’s ultra-competitive work culture, family pressures and limited opportunities after the strict pandemic policies are over. Southeast Asia has become a popular destination given its proximity, relatively inexpensive cost of living and tropical scenery. I am wondering how this change in living style among youth people may impact on the society as a whole.