At a night market in Shenzhen, Sasa Xu finishes her day with passion fruit tea.
It costs US$2.40, bringing her total spend for the day to US$9.40 – details that close out her video “What low-income life in China really looks like”.
The video has drawn more than 470,000 views since it was posted to YouTube in April. It includes footage of Xu at a traditional wet market and walking through a densely populated “urban village” where many of the city’s low-income workers live.
“Through these simple, everyday records, I hope to show overseas audiences the vibrant and multi-dimensional lives of ordinary Chinese people,” Xu said in an interview.
Xu, 30, is an overseas influencer partnerships manager based in the southern tech hub.
She is also one of thousands of ordinary Chinese documenting their lives on YouTube for an overseas audience in a powerful shift in digital storytelling.
From vast cities like Shanghai and Shenzhen to small towns and rural villages, these unfiltered vlogs offer insights not seen in mainstream media.