China salesman lost all in floods sleeps in car to save money for weekly trips to see girlfriend who lives 500km away
- Man no longer sees the point of renting in Beijing because ‘home is where the family is’
- Used to rent a place in a village outside city, but it was destroyed by major flooding
Love knows no boundaries, and one salesman in China has proven what real dedication looks like.
To maintain a long-distance relationship, a 35-year-old man who works in Beijing has turned his car into his home, and travels 500 km every weekend to see his girlfriend in Shanxi province in northern China.
The man, surnamed Huang, travels by train between Beijing and the Shanxi city of Taiyuan every Friday, leaving his car in the Chinese capital for when he returns.
To save money, he sleeps in his 1.5-square-metre vehicle on a foldable bed on the rear passenger seat.
Huang spends the weekend with his girlfriend and dog, leaving Taiyuan on Mondays at 3am. In those early mornings, he kisses his sleeping girlfriend goodbye and takes the train back to Beijing to arrive at his office by 9.30am.
Huang has been a “Beijing drifter” – someone who lives outside the city and commutes into the capital for work – for 12 years.
