Going Elsewhere

By+Yuan+Yuan

In the recently released movie Breakup Buddies， two men undertake a journey to escape lives that have fallen apart in Beijing. One man divorces his wife， whom he met in Dali， a remote and beautiful place in southwest Chinas yunnan Province. Another man， his friend， decides to take him on a trip with no destination to relieve the pain of divorce. They try to avoid Dali， but ultimately arrive there.

The divorced man， once a singer， regales audiences with one of his most popular songs， Going to Dali. It describes a tranquil place for young people who want to escape dreary city life.

For the man in the movie， Dali represents love， romance and youth. But upon return， he finds the place has changed—purity and tranquility are nowhere to be found.

New destination

Though Breakup Buddies is a work of fiction， it reflects the reality of changes that have taken place in Dali and other places， including Tibet Autonomous Region， yunnan Province， yangshuo in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Fenghuang Ancient Town in Hunan Province.

These places have become popular travel spots for a certain type of young people that are labeled—or even self-identify—as wenyi qingnian， a phrase that translates into English as “cultured youth.” The sub-culture forms a social phenomenon not unlike hipsters in the United States.

“If you havent been to these places you will be an outcast among other hipsters，” joked yuchi Linjia， a talk show host on Phoenix Tv， based in Hong Kong. “In such places， you dont need to do anything but sit by a cup of coffee and think about life，” he added.

Why the popularity of these destinations among this group？ These places are either remote or mysterious and life there is vastly different to that in big cities.

“Had I known life here was like this earlier， I would not have wasted my time in Beijing，” said Tong Xiaoxi， a 29-year-old woman from Sichuan Province who had been living in Beijing for seven years before she moved to Erhai in yunnan.

Working as a clothing designer in Beijing， Tong felt like her inspiration and creativity had been sapped dry by the traffic jams， pollution and stress. She decided to seek a fresh start.

“Some of my friends moved to yunnan and they recommended it to me，” said Tong， who followed the advice without hesitation. “It proved to be the right decision！”

The gorgeous scenery and local ethnic cultures offered new inspiration for Tong. The added bonus of low living costs made her life a lot easier， too. “I plan to stay here forever if I can，” said Tong.

The inspiration that Zhang Ping took from Tibet culminated in a book of her time “floating”around the region for more than a decade after moving there with her boyfriend in 2000.

Before going to Tibet， she had only seen it in pictures. The idea of seeing the real thing eventually led to her taking the jump.

“At first， I just wanted to make a short trip， but after I arrived I decided to stay a little longer and then some more. In the end， I never left，”said Zhang. “I got married here， had my baby here and Ive met a lot of wonderful friends from all over the world here，” said Zhang. “What else could I want？”

In her book Floating In Tibet for 10 Years， Zhang recorded the stories of different people coming to Tibet. “People come and go like many other places on the planet，” said Zhang.“But there is always something different because its Tibet. People come here for a reason， usually not for business but for something else.”

Musicians， writers， poets， designers and people working in other artistic fields make up a large part of the non-local population in such places. Wandering guitar players and people with tattoos and unorthodox hairstyles are not an uncommon sight. Business in bars and cafés is good， which is unusual in remote and small cities.

Duan Jin has no idea why he decided to stay in yangshuo for a whole month after his first short visit.

Majoring in computer science at Chongqing University， Duan never labeled himself artistic. He wears thick glasses and has never been involved in anything creative.

So Duans decision to rent an apartment in yangshuo for a month was a shock to his friends.

“I didnt think about it that much. I made the decision just because I thought it was a quiet place and I liked the food here. I can afford the rent as it is not much at all，” said Duan.

For Duan， such places do not necessarily belong to a specific group. “The trees and the river helped to move my eyes away from computer screens and find out more things about life， and at the same time， it helped me to figure out a lot of things that were lingering in my brain.”

Idyll not always ideal

For Hu Lin， “figuring out” sounds a bit clichébecause everybody that goes to his bar in Lhasa says almost the same thing.

Hu has lived in Tibet for more than 10 years， running a music bar in downtown Lhasa.

“I came to Lhasa to seek something spiritual. Now I stay here to make money，” said Hu， who is originally from Shanghai. “If Lhasa was pure 10 years ago， then now it just disappoints me.” Hu went on to lament the frivolous nature of the hipsters that have been swarming to Tibet in larger numbers.

“Many young people now use Tibet as a glittering cover to the ugly fact that they are actually losers，” said Hu. “If you cannot find a job， go to Tibet； if you break up with your boyfriend or girlfriend， go to Tibet； if you fail at doing anything， go to Tibet. Tibet is almost the almighty solution to everything no matter how messy your life is. How is this possible？”

Guo Cheng， who has been staying in Lijiang for two years， understood Hus sentiments but was less extreme in his views.

A native of Beijing， Guo moved to Lijiang after a breakup with his girlfriend. In the past two years， he has tried his hand at a number of businesses including opening a cafe， selling hats in a night market and designing tattoos.

“This is still a beautiful and artistic place， but the picture of living here is not that artistic at all if you dont have the money to ensure an easy life，” said Guo.

“Several years ago when I heard about someone moving to those places I was jealous because I didnt have the courage to follow suit. After hearing stories about things not working out for those people， Im not so sure any more，”said Zhou Qiang， a 26-year-old woman working in an advertisement company in Beijing.

“People get upset with their life and it is not a bad choice to go to another place to relieve the stress and refresh the mind， but after all that you should come back and face your problems with courage. If you just run away from your problems， you life will still be a mess wherever you go，” mused Zhou.