This content is a vlog-style narrative of an American woman, Katherine, sharing her life in rural China with her visiting American friends and family, showcasing the beauty of her village, local culture, and her deep connection to her adopted home.
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Is it okay if I stay here forever and
never go back to the US? Do you approve?
I'm Katherine, an American living in
rural China, and this is my home. For
the past two months, I've actually been
away from this lovely place. I was in my
husband's hometown, Qashqar, preparing
for our wedding. We planned it all
ourselves, so it was a lot of work, but
it turned out great. And now, we've
brought our herd of American friends and
family back across the country to our
lovely home in Hanjo. In today's vlog,
we'll be taking everyone on a tour of
our village. The crew is intrigued by
this little tiny car that is very common
to get around in villages. Doing some
hiking in the lush bamboo forests. How
do you like the bamboo, cousin?
Beautiful. Gorgeous. Lush like piece of
John's hair. And showing everyone our
cozy home that was once an abandoned
farmhouse. And we received a complaint
that there are too many like creepy
things in this room. He doesn't want a
pillow with eyes on it. But all the
pillows I have have eyes on them. But
before we head into the village, let me
show you guys a little snippet of our
escapades in the city. The weather was
not it, but we took a trip to the gem of
Honjo West Lake. Anyway, we made a new
friend just offered us a cigarette.
Old old man,
very small, very very bright woman.
Young girl, very young. Beautiful young
girl. You're beautiful. Oh, very nice.
I like it. I like it. Anyway, we had a
lovely stroll around the lake, enjoying
the flora and fauna and the bromance.
Then it was time for a boat ride. It's
raining. Typical hono. How's West Lake?
It's beautiful. Look at you two. Oh my
gosh, they're so cute. Someone did not
bring a sweater today. Are you cold?
He's like trembling. He's like clinging
to me to stay warm. But he sees my
Vermont cousin in a t-shirt and shorts
and he can't be shown up by Sean. So
he's like, I'm that cold.
Wow, that missed. Sublime.
Oh my goodness. You nasty. You nasty.
You nasty. What does that mean?
We're here. Look cute for the vlog.
We are finally in Baijang. My house only
has one extra room for guests, so most
of the group is going to be staying at
my friend Fenland's Inn. If you saw my
Year of the Dragon vlogs, you might
remember her and her workshop, where
there are always interesting handycrafts
being made. This inn is the place to be
for anyone who enjoys cool niche
Here's your room. Hi, Kyla. Nice,
Catherine. Miss you, huh? Here's your
room. Haley and Sophia. Oh, this is
ours. Yeah. Oh my gosh, this is pretty.
Are you kidding? No, girl. I am not
kidding you.
She gave you guys a little snack here if
anyone's interested. This is your room.
Yeah, this is great. Having some tea
right here in this cozy living room. I
love everything about this. I want to
take it and move it to United States. I
would only stay here. I love the porch
and the art studio and how well
decorated it's just looks wonderful.
Very comforting. I'm not staying here,
but I also love it. So, if you want to
come to Beijang, you know where to go.
Time for dinner at the noodle shop. 2
minutes down the road. We are strolling
with our umbrellas cuz it's raining.
Wonderful in the wind and rain. Pouring
rain, whipping rain. Tomorrow will be
better, I guess. more. [Music]
[Music]
Tomorrow I will take you to the tea
fields. I'll take you to the reservoir.
We're going to see all the scenery. Best
vacation ever. Hell yeah. So excited for Beij.
Beij.
Fortunately, it is still open. It's open
until 8:00 p.m. Hello,
Most of the group ordered this Ba
specialty dish, stewed bamboo shoots
with pork. Do we like the bamboo,
cousin? Yes. Wonderful. We just got back
from dinner. Finan is weaving. She's
always doing something something very
niche and something very unique every
Yes.
So, we have left my parents and Haley
and Sophia and their parents at the inn
and now and I are back at our cozy
little house with my cousin Sean is
staying with us.
We're back. The girl who subleted my
house for two months put this under the
door to stop the critters from coming in
cuz we're always getting like bugs and
geckos and coming in our house. How
do you like our humble abode, cousin? So
much space. Do you like the night vibe?
This is the night vibe. I love the night vibe.
vibe.
So, we are setting up a little bed for
Sean in the office and we received a
complaint that there are too many like
creepy things in this room. I got to
cover these, you know. It's like eyes.
Ey eyes. Like I'm going to cover those.
These you can't do anything about. Come
in here. Dude, I had to take this pillow
off. Like who the is going to sleep near
that? Sean did not approve of my pillow.
On that. Yeah, he's comfy. He doesn't
want a pillow with eyes on it. But all
the pillows I have have eyes on them.
Eyes. Eyes. Eyes. All the rugs have
eyes. What's wrong with eyes? How long
[Music]
Sean? No. No. We don't know if it's
poisonous. Good morning everyone from Bang.
Bang.
My cousin is here chatting on the phone
with his girlfriend showing her all the
plants. Check out the view. Oh my god.
Do you like it? Oh my gosh. looking for
that. This is a plant nerd paradise over
here. That's so very nice.
Oh, this is some steamed bread thing.
Just had a lovely breakfast. Now we're
going to explore the museum. Happy year
Do we like the snakes? I love the snakes.
Back in the day, men were responsible
for the farming and women were
responsible for making cloth. So, when
you get married, your wedding gift is
I'm notable. Too much work. I want to
push a button and
beautiful museum. [Music]
[Music]
sense fans in progress.
They're always working on something cool
in here. One of those little perfume
pouch things. You can hang it in like a
car or something. I mean, they did this.
It's kind of cool. Yeah. I like the uh
Did you see the light bulb?
Checking out the knick-knack section. [Music]
[Music]
got some knickknacks to support the
local handmade art. And then it was time
for a stroll. First, we brought everyone
to the Baang office of Green Jang, the
organization that Asan and I were
working at up until March of this year
when we took time off for our wedding.
All right, everybody in. Come look at
the office. Let's go. This is my office.
Beautiful office.
This is a room that we hold like
activities and meetings and stuff. And
it's a little coffee shop room where we
I love this.
Your husband is such a hardworking,
handsome man. Oh, he is. And then
upstairs there's the office where four
other employees are and there's some
like classrooms and stuff, but this
should suffice. The crew is fascinated
by this teeny tiny car. Mother, what are
you doing? You just open people's car door.
door.
See, the inside doesn't have a steering
wheel. It has a little scooter handle.
Look at the little tires. That's so
cute. Oh, I didn't see the tires. See, I
expected more of this and less of those SUVs.
10,000 M&M for one of these. $1,500 for
one of these little things. That's so I
want one. Next stop, the brand spanking
new bamboo museum. I've only been away
for like two months, but there's there's
new stuff. There's a bamboo museum.
We're exploring the bamboo museum.
This is all root. Yeah, it's a real bamboo.
bamboo. [Music]
Why do we have her there?
So, when I was growing up, my mother
hung baskets from the kitchen ceiling.
They were everywhere. They were Chinese
baskets. She loved them. And my mother
was short. And I have two brothers who
are very tall. And one time, one hit one
of the baskets. And out came a bunch of
condoms. That's where my brothers were
hiding their condom. That was the one
safe spot in the house that mom couldn't
get to cuz she couldn't reach, but their
heads hit the top. There's my my basket.
We're taking the crew on a stroll
through the village. It's a little bit
windy, but other than that, very nice.
And I'm just glad no one's complaining
about rain. No one's complaining about
During the summer in like the evenings,
there are people here playing bad
mitten, doing karaoke. This is like the
social zone. Do the ladies dance here?
Yeah. I love the dancing in the parks
here. It is so much fun. I wish they did
that in America because I I felt like if
we danced and did all that, we'd have
great exercise. She has volunteered to
be the third grandmother for my Asa
John's future child. I'm very thankful.
I need help. I can't wait to buy
clothes. Three sets of grandparents for
this kid. Do I get your approval to stay
here forever? Do you approve? I guess
so. I guess so.
I guess good to you. I mean, come on.
This place is cuter than our hometown,
is it not? How can Asa John not be nice?
He look at all the things he holds
umbrella over you. He brings up uh all
the luggage. He's always serving. And
Aquanina, you are approved. We approve
you. Thank you very much.
How do we like the scenery? Oh my god,
it's so nice. It's beautiful.
Very nice. Beautiful. All right, farm
nerd. Tell me, how healthy is this
wheat? Big heads. That's what you want.
That's a big head. All right. Yeah.
These are all It's all headed out.
[Music]
You're excited. Sean, baby, what do you
think? Bejang. Beautiful.
I I want to stay. You should come retire
here. We can hang out every day. You'll
take care of me. Yeah, that's Chinese culture.
[Music]
Bring everybody on a house tour.
Chicken. Chicken. Got angry dogs at
barbecue pack. [Music]
[Music]
She's the neighbor who always gives us
Everybody in
the herd has arrived in my living room.
Oh, I love it. Do you approve? Yes. Come
visit more. I will. [Music]
Do you like the view? I love you. [Music]
Goats. Goats.
Goats.
We are going on a stroll into the bamboo
forest and then we're going to the
reservoir. We're seeing the whole
This is a new bamboo.
Is that what it looks like? Yeah. This
is our seasonal creek. It only flows
right after the rain. And there's a
chicken mansion over there. Look, this
chickens and ducks get like this whole
thing. Like look, it goes all the way to
here. How do they not fly away? Why
would you fly away? You get free food is
where the food is at. You know, some
people just let their ducks free in the
creek. We saw that earlier, right? The
ducks are just out and about during the
day and then they know where home is.
[Music]
This is our favorite place to walk. We
love this dirt trail here. Hey Saj,
let's go swimming. Yes, sir. Why not
here? Why not here? I'm learning
swimming. I'll teach you how to swim.
I'm not ready. I'm need I need
something. How is your girlfriend swim?
Very good. But mine is the best. You are
the best. I swim long distance.
Ah, very nice. You know, long distance.
I love you. Long distance.
My long distance loves you. In the
summer, the water level's like right
here. Come on, Haley.
Come on, Sean. This is our favorite
swimming spot. The water level's a
little bit low at this time of year
because the June monsoons haven't come
in yet, but Haley and Sean are going to
give it a try anyway. Oh, yaki.
Wow.
How was your swimming experience? That
was great. 10 out of 10. Oh, yes. Look
at that. That's some Dragon Ball Z right there.
there.
We had one last happy meal together at
the Village Restaurant and then it was
time to say goodbye to half of our
group. We went on a walk today and it
was perfect. I went swimming. It was
awesome. Uh my shirt is still drying,
but honestly, I could happily stay here
for Yeah. forever. I don't know. It's
beautiful here. Yeah. Come back again.
By Oh, yeah. We're playing next year.
We're coming and the next year we might
make this a yearly thing, but make this
a yearly thing. Yeah, I would love that.
And I would ask Sophia about her
experience, but Sophia has been struck
down by a virus and is no longer verbal.
So, can you please show me in an
interpretive dance how you felt about
this experience? A little more. Oh,
there we go. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Well, I
will see you guys next year. But wait,
the vlog is not over. My cousin and
parents are staying for another two
days, and we're going to go hiking.
We're taking this Vermont mountain boy
through the subtropical bamboo forests
of Jojo. Look at their matching outfits.
Oh, they're so cute.
How do you like the bamboo, cousin?
Beautiful. Lush. Yeah. Yes. Gorgeous.
Lush like Easter John's hair. Busting.
Busting. So green. It's like this all
year, even the dead of winter. So green.
[Music]
Hello. Hello. [Music]
[Music]
It's Don is running. Hello.
I
almost shan beautiful. Almost as
beautiful as Junk. [Music]
[Music]
You know, I'm always getting comments
from people saying that like they feel
bad for me living in this hodunk place
with no nightclubs and no night life and
stuff. The best. How do you feel?
Mountain or nightclub? Mountains. Yes.
Everyday. Mountains.
Every moment. All day. Every day.
mountains every time. We come from a
hiking family. Yes. And he likes hiking,
too. Otherwise, it would be
incompatible. Who would pick a nightclub
over this? Who the heck? Beautiful. You
might think that one day of hiking is
enough, but it's not. As I said, we're a
hiking family, and my cousin came all
the way over here, so I made sure to
spoil him with two hikes. The second of
which was a little less strenuous, so my
father came along, too. Day three invite
John with my beloved cousin. Give me a
rundown. How has your experience been?
Uh, the best best ever. It's so green.
The weather is perfect. The people are
nice. The food is amazing. The coffee
has been good. I found coffee. It's the
little things. I build hiking trails
when I was younger, but nothing like
this. So impressed with your hiking
trails. They're so beautiful. We have
the stamp of approval from this Vermont
mountain boy. When you coming back?
People are waiting. Next year. All
right. Yes. So, subscribe and like and
I'll be back next year. Hell yeah.
Father's first time in China. First time
in my village. Tell the people how was
your experience.
Better than I thought. Well, that's
good. Very nice. Nice scenic walkways.
Heck yeah. They like how this is all
stone stairs and stuff. Bang number one.
I love it here. We should just hike all
We're getting Sean's girlfriend a rock.
What? Bro, I swear I thought that was a
garlic clove. It is. It is a garlic
clove. We thought it was a very smooth
rock and then I thought it was a garlic
clove and then we thought it was a rock
and it is indeed a garlic clove. Got to
get Sherry a different rock then.
Prettier rock. All right, eyes out. Get
Sherry a rock. Eyes out.
Fong wildlife. You like that? Yes. The
world is a chess board. No. Disgusting.
You know, you know what I'm saying? That
So lush, so pretty, so serene. I don't
It's okay. I come back. More life to
live. You come to America. I want to go
America but you are coming. Visa is
problem for me. No no problem. I put you
in my pocket. Trump kill me. No no no
He's safe. Okay Sean no problem. N
is this right? Catherine. Um
yeah. I think it'll work out just like that.
Chi garden. Hi. [Applause]
[Applause]
Sean's having some grass jelly. It
doesn't taste like it. Happy family
picnic on the mountains. This is the the
best picnic spot. Beautiful day. Bye,
Bjang. Baang, I miss you. Come back next
year again and again and again. Father,
say goodbye. Bye. How are you feeling? I
am feeling happy. Very happy. Wrong
answer. You're supposed to say sad cuz
you're leaving. Yes. Happy. Sad. But
happy because sometimes
sometimes
missing something is good cuz you know
you have something special here. And now
it's time for us to head back to the
city of Honjo.
And you may be wondering over the past 2
days, where has my mother been? One,
enjoying the balcony view. and two
making little thingabobs in the craft
workshop. I made a beautiful fish. Very
nice. With a lot of help, constructing
it together with wonderful people. It
was so nice to finally be able to show
my family around this beautiful village
I call home instead of just sharing it
in videos. And they now understand why
I'm so obsessed with this place and not
trying to go back to American suburbia
anytime soon, except for my annual
visit, of course. In the upcoming video,
we're going to be taking my parents to
some more fun places in Hanjo, Sujo,
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