A trip to rural villages outside GuangZhou

With Max Chernov.

"Since I started visiting China a year ago, I’ve been fascinated by life there. But the country still puzzles me. The big cities look so polished and futuristic—but what if that’s just the exception? Western media claims the progress is a facade, that real life in small towns is poor, grey, and tightly controlled. No robots, EVs, or AI-powered smart cities—just people struggling to get by. I wanted to see for myself if that’s true.

So I decided to go beyond the big cities, visit villages, and talk directly with locals—ask them if they make good money, whether they’ve ever thought about leaving China, and what they think about America. To make it happen, I asked a Chinese friend, to drive me to some villages."