Can you live on cryptocurrency in China? Documentary Bitcoin Girl shows attempt to do so over 21 days

The rapid growth of mobile payment services like Alipay and WeChat Pay has enabled China’s biggest cities to transform into cashless societies, enabling consumers to use their smartphones to pay for almost everything – from meals and transport to film tickets and foot massages.

The development of cryptocurrencies, however, has sparked interest in how one can live in China today using bitcoin, despite the government’s crackdown on digital currency trading and its ban on payment services that accept such assets.

A group of self-described cryptocurrency enthusiasts, who call themselves Team 1234, have provided a glimpse of how a person can survive on bitcoin in China through their independently produced, multiple-episode documentary that was released on streaming video service iQiyi from August 30.

The documentary Bitcoin Girl shows a young woman known by her online identity of He Youbing, which translates as “why insane” in Mandarin, and her attempt to use the digital currency in a 21-day experiment that covered Beijing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Shanghai.

He Youbing, who is from the southeast coastal province of Fujian, carried bitcoin worth an estimated US$1,400 at the start of her trip on August 28. Her experiment involved persuading shop owners and strangers to accept bitcoin in exchange for food, accommodation and traditional banknotes, while educating them about the benefits of blockchain – the technology behind cryptocurrencies.