The Unspoken Reason I Don’t Go Home Often — Not Just the Distance.



In this video, I take you along on a 700km drive from eastern China back to my central rural hometown. If you’ve ever wondered what it’s actually like to travel across China by car, or what it feels like to come back to a place you don’t visit often, and about the quiet reasons behind why some of us don’t go home often, this one’s for you.

If you enjoyed this one, a like and subscribe would mean the world to a tiny channel like this.

📌 Timestamps:
0:00 – Overview of the trip
0:31 – Getting ready to hit the road
0:47 – Highway: tolls, service areas, and what I saw
06:15 – Country roads, finally close to home
07:42 – Arriving home & my parents’ reaction
12:30 – A little vegetable garden tour & cooking with my mom
16:47 – A classic philosophical conversation between me and my mom😂
18:11 – The unspoken reason I haven’t gone home much these two years
21:49 – Quiet evening in the village

#ruralchina #chinalife #realchina #lucynow

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48 Comments

  1. Lucy. Most of your members probably do not understand that in Chinese culture, for centuries, kids usually grow up and marry in their local regions. Also, families try to have at least one son because this son is expected to stay with his parents. When he marries, his wife will move into his home and help him take care of his parents as they grow old. If the family has a daughter or daughters, the daughter is expected to MOVE OUT and move in with her new husband. This was basically Chinese social insurance for many many decades. Although China has started implementing social security/insurance programs, it has not yet become universal throughout all of China. This will take time. Moreover, Chinese culture also places high priority on a high saving culture, because the saving culture is also a form of social insurance. Even though, extreme poverty and homelessness has basically been minimized throughout China, traditions and social pressure to marry and have children will persist for quite some time.

  2. 哈哈哈,妈妈的反应太真实了,拍视频在他们眼中绝对不是正经事,“赶紧找个班上”才是正经事。🤣🤣🤣我老家离武汉市中心也有2个小时的车程。方言能听懂。

  3. Great video Lucy, I’m rooting for you from Southern California as you figure out your life. I really like you and your sister’s relationship. I have 4 daughters with a span of 11 years 14 years and they’re all very close with each other. Omg, your parents’ garden looks almost exactly like mine -squash, peppers couple of fruit trees, and even the beans are finishing producing/drying out now just like mine. I’m coming to China for the 1st time next year!

  4. Curious is the wood-fired stove used purely for cooking or also for heating in winter? And not just use electric hob?(its much easier, won’t be heating apartment in such heat etc)

  5. A good video. Lots of interesting content and I watched it couple of times to catch the majority of topics. Comments:

    1) In Us we have toll roads (like the one you were on) and freeways where it is free but still good cross country roads. Are there such roads in China?
    2) sometimes the video is choppy, may be better editing would help
    3) Looks like your father is on the phone watching TV. Do people in rural areas watch shows on regular TV?
    4) The way your mom cooks is interesting. Wood burning gives high heat and used mainly in restaurants
    5) Do you and your sister still have friends in the village? It will be interesting to see a gathering. Probably don’t need cigarettes and Baijiu for that. Gathering with your uncles will also be interesting.

  6. 16:51 我是一人父亲。我看:你的父母担心你没有工作。你应该跟他们解释一下,拍电影不是玩儿的。这可能是你工作的机会。(sorry for my Chinese : just last year started learning by myself)

  7. 2:15 that dragon wrapped around the pole reminded me of 9 dragon amusement park. i saw something similar there as a child. it was so good to see your home in hubei. as for the next episode, i'd personally want to see your grandparents receiving presents.

  8. Another great video. I have seen first hand how much pressure parents can place on daughters to get married in China. Ultimately they are trying to create a network of support for their own retirment. I understand the mindset but I do not like it and i hope it will dissapear with that generation. I will be in Hubei for a month in October. I am very excited to eat more of all the delicious 中国菜!!!

  9. Gift giving is a huge deal in China. It's not just in rural areas. Also, actions speak louder than words. Families and friends express their love and care by doing things for you rather than just empty words.

  10. 谢谢分享!你的想法真诚而善良 让我受到了启发
    有一个小建议 可不可以视频做的稍短一/节奏快一点 然后有更多的配音部分分享你的想法?喜欢听你和观众聊天

  11. Hi Lucy, thanks for another informative video.
    Family dynamics can often seem odd to outsiders.
    Look after your parents (and I don't mean financially) as they won't be around for ever.
    I vote for more of the family in the next video.
    Take care.

  12. That was an interesting trip, Lucy and Luna. The one child policy was one of the worst things to happen to the Chinese people. By the late 1970s birth rates were decreasing anyway, and would have continued to decline on its own. It is a miracle to me how “unwanted” daughters and parents still talk to each other. I have a question. Isn’t it the groom and his parents that pay the bride price?

  13. If this family in a rural area considered to be average in China now days, then we have to admit the goverment has done a great job. The living standard in the rural area is a good measurement about the prosperity of a nation.

  14. Lucy this is very American but less pressure in the USA when you go home your parents want to see you doing well, pay for restaurants inviting Aunts & Uncles & buy thing while you're there to be a big spender. Other parent in the USA dont want that. They want kids to save their money, be it boy or girl, that is not felt to ne the kids responsibility but to just come home & see there parents & thst is it b-cuz it costs money to travel. I get both sides. I feel like we are related 😂😂 this is so crazy all they way around the world it is the same thing & why my cousins hate going home a lot b-cuz they go broke until the next paycheck. But it is pressure, however I am CRACKING UP LAUGHING AND IM FEEL HAPPY IT IS NOT MW IN THE 🔥 🔥 SEAT. I feel for girl. Smile & take it, youre grown but not when youre home.

  15. Lucy all Mom's act alike all around the world except the not hugging part. Mom's fuss but happy your are there. The fuss about the dog messing up their home 😆, you both got a little pop to put him down. You mom was not playing with yall pit Lumi all over her house. I was cracking up. VERY AMERICAN! LOL😂😂😂😂

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