Since 2006, the amazing couple “Yongge Shanshan” have not worked a single day of a regular job. Using savings they had accumulated from previously running bars and clothing stores, they bravely drove their jeep across all of China. When funds were low, they relied on their core strengths—“running bars and playing music”—to work as they traveled, living a joyful, carefree life.
Back in the mid-1990s, Yongge, who loved singing and had a passion for music, and his wife Shanshan, who was skilled in bartending, borrowed some money to open a then-quite-rare private bar in Beijing’s Xidan area. With just a few guitars, music that played all night, and a steady stream of visitors, they made their first fortune within six months.
Being broke was the most fun
Looking back on the days over ten years ago, Yongge fondly reminisced: “We were all just music lovers. Many singers who had come up to Beijing had no place to perform, so we invited them to our bar to eat, sing, and hang out. Back then we were young, reckless, and had no money—we rented shabby flats, but we were happy.”
He said, “What was the most fun? Being broke and non-commercial. Once anything gets tied up with business interests, it inevitably brings constraints and a lack of freedom.”
Their love for freedom and refusal to be boxed in drove them to make a bold decision: rent out their home, take their 10-year-old jeep, and explore more than 30 provinces and cities across China.
“In half a year, we only spent a little over 60,000 RMB,” Shanshan said. To save money, they stayed in all kinds of places—a 5-RMB-per-night room meant for truck drivers, sleeping in their car, trying out 30-RMB rural homestays, and leaving their footprints in youth hostels in various cities.
Being China’s Che Guevara
What if they ran out of money? Just open another bar. That’s how the bar-experienced duo of “Yongge Shanshan” earned while they explored. In Yangshuo, Guangxi, where they fell in love with the laid-back yet passionate culture of Latin America, they opened a bar called “Havana,” decorating it with numerous items related to Che Guevara. Yongge would play his own music right at the entrance, naturally drawing crowds.
They did the same in Hainan. On the beach in Sanya, they set up a beachfront music bar, jumping back into the bar business—and once again, the place became a huge hit. Because of this, every bar they opened turned a profit. And whenever they made money, they spent it on traveling—from exploring China to venturing into the Indochina Peninsula.
As for the jeep that had braved mountains and rivers, it had broken down “more than N times,” yet it’s still running to this day and could be considered a “legendary steed.”
This kind of carefree, dashing courage is beyond the reach of many. Shanshan said that there are very few people like them among China’s 1.3 billion population. Most are too busy making money or admiring their story.
Yongge said that their next dream is to drive all the way to Central Asia, West Asia, and even South America—to become China’s version of “Che Guevara.”