1. Southward Journey: A Taian Couple’s S-Shaped Route
On December 21, at Haikou Volcano Crater. Nie [character missing] Yuan "hated how little water the RV could hold" for the first time, filling up its 0.6-cubic-meter tank to the brim. He thought "the water here is really good," as this supply was all he and his wife had for cooking, washing, and drinking.
December 22 was the Winter Solstice. It marked their 50th-plus day since departing from Tai’an, Shandong—when they had left "in autumn."
Over these two months, 61-year-old Nie [character missing] Yuan and his wife had traveled from Tai’an through dozens of cities including Rizhao, Zaozhuang, Jining, Xuzhou, Nanjing, Nantong, and Huangshan, moving spontaneously each day and resting when tired. Nie [character missing] Yuan proudly called this their "southern tour," heading south along an S-shaped coastal route.
As Nie [character missing] Yuan counted the cities they’d visited, his wife Hou Guizhen often chimed in to remind him of Guangzhou and Shenzhen. 2013 marked the third year of their travels. Over these three years, Hou Guizhen transformed from someone who "argued and gave him the silent treatment" to becoming "addicted to traveling."
Back in 2010, Nie [character missing] Yuan from Tai’an, Shandong, planned to buy an RV. Unexpectedly, this led to frequent "arguments" with his wife—he joked that people called him a "chao ba" (a dialect term for fool). To his wife and neighbors, spending savings on a over 100,000-yuan RV seemed like wasteful extravagance, especially since Nie [character missing] Yuan wasn’t wealthy.
Nie [character missing] Yuan once worked as a worker at a state-owned enterprise in Tai’an. After the company went bankrupt, he started a leisure farm as a side business. His wife had also been a worker at a state-owned enterprise and had since retired. Though both received pensions, theirs were modest—Nie [character missing] Yuan said their combined income was "just over 3,000 yuan." Given this, his wife didn’t support his decision to buy the RV.
In 2010, Nie [character missing] Yuan traveled to Hubei and spent over 160,000 yuan on a vehicle. Without his wife’s support, he initially traveled alone. The second time, worried, his wife joined him—and gradually got hooked on traveling.
Nie [character missing] Yuan later suggested selling the RV, but his wife strongly opposed: "Why sell it? We still need to drive it out—we should enjoy it first." At this, Nie [character missing] Yuan secretly rejoiced, feeling he had set an "advanced trend."
2. Observations: Often Asked if Qingdao Is in Shandong
At the end of October 2013, Nie [character missing] Yuan and his wife set off from home. Along the way, one thing that stood out was how often people asked them, "Is Qingdao in Shandong?"
About ten days into their journey, they arrived in Nantong. By a small alley there, Nie [character missing] Yuan parked and stepped out with his wife for a meal—trying local specialties had become a must-do wherever they went. Soon, the outgoing Nie [character missing] Yuan struck up a conversation with curious onlookers. He told them they were from Shandong, which had many beautiful coastal cities like Qingdao and Rizhao... At this point, people would often interrupt to ask, "Is Qingdao in Shandong?"
Another common question came when Nie [character missing] Yuan introduced his hometown’s Mount Tai in Tai’an—people would ask, "Where is Mount Tai?"
Nie [character missing] Yuan found this normal—after all, the country was so vast, and it wasn’t surprising others hadn’t heard of these places. But he also felt, "Our country is so vast and rich in resources. In my lifetime, I must see it all, or I won’t even know which province or part of the country these places are in." Traveling southward, Nie [character missing] Yuan became an unofficial promoter of Shandong, sharing local delicacies, attractions, and cities with everyone they met.
3. Food: Sharing a Pot of Liquor, Joyful Encounters
Travel life wasn’t much different from everyday life—it still involved food, clothing, shelter, and transportation. Nie [character missing] Yuan and his wife believed, "We eat at home, we eat on the road." While traveling, they’d shop at local markets to cook, finding it affordable and similar to home.
One night in November, in a city in Anhui, the couple parked their RV by the roadside for rest and dinner. As Nie [character missing] Yuan cooked inside, someone emerged from a nearby shop carrying a bottle of liquor and invited him, "You’re travelers—want to drink together?"
Often, chance encounters with fellow travelers over shared meals and drinks became delightful surprises during their journeys.
After drinking, Nie [character missing] Yuan wouldn’t set off immediately. As for when to leave the next day, "it all depends on mood." He said, "This isn’t about rushing to work—we don’t need to follow rigid rules. We leave whenever we feel like it. Want to stay an extra day? We stay." Exploring different cities and scenery became the essence of their lives.
4. Clothing: Ten-Yuan Items Are the Priority
In October, the couple set off with just their everyday clothes, carrying no extra luggage.
"Traveling isn’t about packing everything. You have to change your mindset—clothes are just accessories. You can buy them anywhere, wherever you go." Nie [character missing] Yuan told reporters on the evening of December 21.
As the season transitioned from autumn to winter, the weather grew colder. When feeling chilly, the couple bought clothes at local markets—"so cheap, it felt like buying junk." Five- or ten-yuan items became their top choice. Whenever needed, they’d head to the market. Sometimes, seeing so many bargains made Nie [character missing] Yuan think, "I wish I could haul them away by train, a whole freight car full."
5. Accommodation: Government Buildings and Farmers’ Markets
Over the two months, the couple became regulars near government offices and farmers’ markets.
"Government buildings are safer," was Nie [character missing] Yuan’s main reason for parking there. Whenever they spotted a prominent government office—like city hall, courts, prosecutors’ offices, or environmental bureaus—he knew, "Tonight, we’ve found a spot to park."
Besides government sites, farmers’ markets were also popular parking choices. After arriving, they’d shop at nearby markets for fresh, affordable produce.
Keeping food and accommodation costs low was the couple’s top priority. Nie Fuyuan smiled and told the reporter, “We’re traveling on a budget—travel isn’t just for the rich. Budget travel suits us perfectly.”
In early December, the reporter called Nie Fuyuan. Five minutes into the call, he apologized awkwardly: “I really can’t talk anymore because this is a Tai’an number, and I’m currently roaming. Roaming charges are pretty high, so it’s not very convenient for me to take calls.”
6th line: Half the money went to tolls
From their October departure to December 22, Nie Fuyuan calculated that he had spent over 10,000 yuan in total. “Half of it went to tolls.”
In his view, food didn’t cost much, clothing was cheap, and lodging was in the car—which became a mobile home. But highway tolls and fuel expenses were his biggest expenditures. Holding a calculator and glancing at the odometer on his dashboard, he meticulously tallied up the costs: “It costs over 1 yuan per kilometer.”
Since tolls were so high, why insist on taking highways? Nie Fuyuan explained that taking national roads meant fewer signs, making navigation difficult. More importantly, some national roads also charged tolls and had poor road conditions, which wore down tires severely. “In the end, there was no choice but to stick to highways.”
In unfamiliar cities, Nie Fuyuan worried about competing for lanes while driving. At traffic lights, not knowing the roads well, he often had to wait a long time—this became a major challenge in his travels.
Driving across the country, passing through dozens of cities large and small, and covering nearly 10,000 kilometers of long roads, the city that left the deepest impression on Nie Fuyuan was Shenzhen.
In mid-December, Nie Fuyuan was driving on the streets of Shenzhen. While crossing a road, he noticed several vehicles waiting on the cross street ahead. Carefully observing the cars in front, he planned to wait until there were fewer vehicles before proceeding. Soon, he realized the cars on the opposite side had also stopped, with drivers gesturing for him to go first. “I was deeply grateful—they treated me with respect,” he said. In Shenzhen, he noticed that at many intersections, drivers didn’t jockey for position, and yielding to others was common. This left a profound impression on him. “It’s this culture of yielding—cars to cars, people to cars, cars to people. The city is so civilized, with a real sense of urban driving etiquette.”
7. The Alternative: The Stubbornness and Addiction of a “Fool”
Nie Fuyuan and his wife decided not to return home for this Spring Festival. Currently in Haikou, he plans to head westward, adding, “Might as well swing by Vietnam while we’re at it.”
Traveling and exploring the world is a dream for many. For Nie Fuyuan and his wife, it finally came true in their sixties.
Nie Fuyuan believes their dream came true thanks to both family circumstances and personal mindset. The couple has a son who works at a state-owned enterprise, with a stable family and career. They no longer need to worry about their son’s household, and having retired after a lifetime of hard work, they finally “have a bit of time.”
But Nie Fuyuan doesn’t consider himself “affluent with free time.” He does have time now that he’s retired and his children and grandchildren are grown, but he doesn’t see himself as “wealthy.” For someone like him, who cringes at roaming fees even for phone calls and worries about data usage when going online, he believes “you don’t need money to travel—you can do it on a budget. As long as you’re happy, that’s what matters.”
Realizing the dream of budget travel took Nie Fuyuan a long time. In 2010, when he decided to buy an RV, he withdrew what he considered “a large sum of money” from the family savings and stopped putting money aside. This decision was met with criticism and arguments. Neighbors and family thought, “Investing so much in this? It’s not worth it. The guy’s out of his mind, a fool.” Back then, neither the neighbors nor Nie Fuyuan’s wife could understand the idea of “budget travel.”
But the stubborn Nie Fuyuan went ahead and bought the vehicle, driving it back to his hometown from Hubei alone. He figured, “The older you get, the more frugal life becomes. We barely spend money normally—just on food. We eat at home anyway, so why not go out and see the world?” This time, he admitted he had “moved beyond the traditional Chinese mindset of saving money,” choosing instead to enjoy life.
After buying the RV in 2010, he drove to Beijing alone. Upon returning, he immediately started planning a trip to Inner Mongolia. This time, his wife couldn’t stay put—partly because she worried about him traveling alone, and partly because she wanted to explore too. Soon, there was no turning back. As Nie Fuyuan put it, “She got hooked. She’s even more addicted than I am.”
Beyond giving up saving money, Nie Fuyuan also stopped chasing profits. Before this, aside from his title as the “Elderly Explorer of the South,” he had multiple roles: owner of a rural manor, and legal representative of the Fuyuan RV dealership. He said that after falling in love with RV travel, he also started a business selling RVs. But, “Now, my focus isn’t on business. The more you chase profits, the more pressure you feel, and travel loses its joy.” In his mind, running the RV dealership is just a side gig. If someone wants to buy an RV, he’ll recommend one, but he won’t actively push sales. His true goal remains a “life of travel.”