Village guy trusts his life with live streaming

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A report published by China’s National Bureau of Statistics in 2017 shows that there were over 281 million people from China’s rural areas working for non-agricultural industries, nearly half of whom want to seek for a job in cities.

Liu Jinyin says "hello" to his fans through a live streaming app with his village as the background. /Photo from Southern Weekly

However, 26-year-old Liu Jinyin opted to stay in his hometown, Sankuaishi Village in southwest China’s Sichuan Province, for his avant-garde video business. Over the past half year, he has become aware of the benefits of his live shows and videos, which has brought him a profit of 80,000 yuan (approximately 12,000 US dollars) and helped gather around 86,000 fans.

Photo from Southern Weekly

Liu works long hours, from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 m.n. every day. He only needs his phone to live stream every detail of a rural life like fishing, farming and cooking using firewood.

Photo from Southern Weekly

“People from cities do not like to watch those other absurd live shows. They are curious about the peaceful life in rural areas,” Liu confidently told Southern Weekly, a nationwide newspaper.

Photo from Southern Weekly

Liu earns money from his viewers' "rewards." Through the live streaming app that he is using, his audience could choose the amount of reward they want to give, which will then go directly to his account.

It was not all that easy, though. Contrary to his overwhelming enjoyment in recording village life on video, the villagers who are feeding on farming did not have any empathy with Liu and insisted that he will be better off with a job in the city.

"He doesn’t want to work at all. If he worked at a construction site in a city, he could get 300-yuan wage a day. If all platforms for live streaming were closed, what would he live on?” Liu Mingjie, Liu Jinyin’s father said.

Even, some people in the Sankuaishi village feared Liu was ill when they saw Liu talking in front of his phone in farms.

Photo from Southern Weekly

Determined Liu did not yield to criticisms but invited people around him to join his live streaming. He shot his sister feeding dogs in a village with no electricity and his uncle preparing dinner and airing chilies on the ground. All these videos become hits.

Photo from Southern Weekly

Although worried about his future, Liu’s father becomes a loyal fan and now often seen holding a phone to watch his son's live streaming.