‘Substitute legs’: ‘healing’ vlogger visits different city in China every weekend, brings calm to countless people online
- 900,000 followers enjoy travelling vicariously through his experiences
- Life of travel replaces playing internet games, sleeping for many hours
The travel vlogs of an adventurous man who has spent every weekend for a year visiting a different city in China, have become so popular they are now referred to as “healing”.
Liu, who is known as Nanjing Liuhaoran on the Douyin social media platform, works for an IT company in the capital of Jiangsu province in the east of the country.
After taking planes or trains to visit cities across the country at weekends, he returns to Nanjing to start his normal working week on Monday mornings. So far, Liu has travelled to 52 cities.
He has about 900,000 followers who have dubbed him their “substitute legs” because they have been able to enjoy travelling vicariously through his experiences.
Liu said that, in the past, he would spend his leisure time playing internet games or sleeping for many hours. But once he began sharing his trips on social media, his passion for travel was ignited.
“I am especially interested in interacting with the residents of the places I go to. I also like discovering the local snacks and specialty foods and I love eating in small restaurants in residential communities,” he said.
“I enjoy the environment in all the different cities I visit on my weekly trips throughout the year,” Liu added.
The blogger’s videos record special moments engaging with people he meets during his trips, which he feels are profoundly moving.
In one of Liu’s videos, he is eating noodles at a small place in Zhoushan, Zhejiang province in eastern China run by a kind elderly couple who remind him of his grandparents.
Liu said another person who made an impact on him was a man in his 70s who took him on his motorbike to a restaurant in Suzhou in the northern province of Jiangsu. The eatery has been frequented by so many people that it is famous on the internet as an online celebrity restaurant.
“I wake up at 1am every day because I need to be at the railway station as early as possible to pick up customers. A person should work – the lazy guy won’t have anything to eat,” the septuagenarian told Liu.
“Many people have said my videos healed them. But the fact is that I am first healed by the experiences I’ve had with the people I met. Then I convey this beautiful feeling to others,” Liu said.
Liu’s videos have received a huge response online.
“I admire him. His life is so happy,” said one online observer.
“I like his videos. There is love, human concern and warmth in his clips. It really cures my frustration and exhaustion with daily life,” said another.
Unconventional travel bloggers often trend on mainland social media.
Su Min, a 59-year-old grandmother, drove alone across the country after leaving her husband of 30 years and was hailed as a role model for female independence.
