China’s Rapidly Developing Digital Nomad Communities
Reflection from the China Digital Nomad Conference
Last weekend, I attended a China Digital Nomad Conference hosted by an independent coliving and cocreation community. A staggering 2,000 people joined, ranging from burned-out young professionals from tier-1 metropolitans in China, new graduates seeking opportunities, Chinese digital nomad entrepreneurs, freelancers, to scholars researching this growing phenomenon.
I met a lot of smart and visionary talents, heard many interesting ideas, and took away with me a great deal of inspiration and thoughts that I’d like to share with you.
As an ex-digital nomad who has lived in most of the world’s largest digital nomad hubs, and someone with a Chinese cultural background to zoom into this interesting phenomenon, I find China's digital nomad community scene quite unique.
Unlike in the western world, remote work has not really taken off in China and most parts of Asia, and there are rarely remote positions from bigger-sized companies here, but you might be surprised that there are actually a great number of digital nomad coliving and coworking communities popping up in China in just the past few years.
Two Interesting Businesses Models:
1). Intergenerational Coliving Communities for Retirees & Young Professionals
Globally, most countries are facing the aging population issue, including the once most populous country China, but there aren’t many solutions addressing the problem. Here, a newly launched "Silver-Hair Young Professional Coliving Community" seems to pave the way for intergenerational collaboration by allowing retirees young professionals to skill share with each other. This mutual exchange helps the retirees stay socially engaged and supports young professionals' growth at the same time, particularly for those navigating a tough job market.
2). Young Talents Revitalizing Rural Economies: A Win-Win Collaboration
Unlike the typical digital nomad scene, where nomad hubs are often established in popular tourist destinations, many digital nomad coliving and coworking communities in China popped up in small towns that I have not even heard of, or in suburb areas of big cities. The digital nomad conference took place at a very small town in the southern part of China, the scenery is beautiful, the air is clean, and the cost of living is low.
Young professionals came to these small towns because of the coliving community where they can find people with similar sub-culture values. These digital nomads with coding and digital marketing skills, who have been fed up with the Chinese-style 996 working culture (9 a.m. to 9 p.m., 6 days a week and repeat) in the big cities found a much better pace here. Some recently laid-off professionals, or less-experienced new graduates who were faced with the high unemployment issue in the cities end up discovering business opportunities in rural areas, for example, helping local businesses tap into new digital distribution channels, promoting local products via social media, or opening popup shops in those small towns.
How did the Digital Nomad Communities Flourished in China?
So you might wonder how a fairly decentralized idea: digital nomading, ends up flourishing in China. Here are a few reasons:
1). Focus of Developing the Rural Economies
In the past couple of decades, the economic opportunities in China have been concentrated in tier-1 metropolitans, which results in a big talent deficit in rural areas and non-top tier cities, many small towns were left with only the elderly and the city migrants' children who could not afford to live with their parents that work in bigger cities. But now China has a big focus to develop rural areas, encouraging talent redistribution from major cities. Some local governments greatly welcomed and supported these coliving and coworking communities because these organizations brought in high-tech and marketing talents to the local economy.
2). Youth Unemployment Challenges
Unlike global digital nomad communities where the average age hovers around 35, there are many new graduates in the Chinese digital nomad population. Youth unemployment in China and India scored around 20% in recent years. New graduates especially, are facing a pressing unemployment issue. But by having this skill share coliving experience, they may end up discovering new career opportunities with each other or with local businesses, gaining experience, and enjoying the dividend of lower cost of living.
3). Big City Hustle Culture Burn-outs Looking for More Balanced Lifestyle
Professionals from major cities are seeking alternatives to the high-stress 996 culture and unaffordable urban living costs. These communities provide a chance to reset.
4). The Financial Strain of Urban Life
Most of the coliving community members are from the big cities, and by moving to these decentralized communities, they are able to take advantage of the geographic arbitrage by living in these small towns with a lower cost of living.
5). The Speed from 0 to 1 in China
China’s ability to mobilize resources and build something from 0 to 1 is unmatched, resulting in a fast-paced creation of coliving and coworking spaces popping up in the country.
6). Influence from the Global Digital Nomad Movement
The global digital nomad movement has also inspired many Chinese professionals to rethink their lifestyles and work dynamics.
How is the China Digital Nomad Community Scene Different from Most Global Nomad Communities?
Decentralized Locations
Unlike global nomad hubs typically centered around tourist hotspots, China’s nomad coliving communities are often located in lesser-known areas as of now. This decentralized model bringing talents to underdeveloped regions that could benefit from tourists and potentially talents to develop the local economy, is a concept that could inspire similar initiatives globally.
Dedicated Community Manager Engaging the Community
There’s usually at least one dedicated community manager running in-person and online events to facilitate collaboration in the community, resulting in highly engaging environments. The enthusiasm is high, there are even organized programs to train more community managers to serve the growing demand.
Deeper collaboration on the professional level
When I was traveling in other digital nomad hubs globally, there are a lot of casual social events going on, but people mostly remain work independently on their own projects, with the exception of a few digital nomad conferences facilitating professional collaboration among remote workers and digital nomads. However, in these Chinese digital nomad coliving and coworking communities, it seems like there’s greater desire to collaborate with each other on the professional level, fostering deeper partnerships alongside social connection.
Though we have to recognize that the digital nomad communities outside China are much more country-diversified, and therefore more difficult to forge meaningful professional collaboration.
Primarily Domestic Participation So Far
Due to the visa barrier, there are rarely any remote workers or digital nomads from outside of China living in these communities or working remotely from China. Currently these coliving and coworking communities in China comprise primarily domestic participants. But as I talked to many community builders in these communities, they are quite interested in having international professionals joining.
Takeaways & Opportunities to Visit China Visa-free
China's digital nomad coliving and coworking communities are developing rapidly. These communities are emerging in rural and suburban areas, and serve as compelling Proof of Concepts for a collaborative model where digital nomads and local economies co-develop to create mutual benefits and sustainable growth. This distinct growth is driven by a combination of economic and societal factors such as below, making this model a compelling case study for the global digital nomad movement.
A focus on rural development and talent redistribution.
Addressing social challenges like youth unemployment and work-life balance.
Leveraging rapid resource mobilization to foster community growth.
Recently, China came up with a series of visa-free visit policies to attract more foreigners to visit the country.
In addition to the short-term visa exemptions, a very recent piece of news indicated that there will be a designated visa-free international business center near the Shanghai Pudong airport where foreigners can stay visa-free for 30 days.
I’ve also recently written a blog below to decode the details of how to visit China visa-free:
How to Visit China Visa Free & Things to Know Before Visiting China
If you plan to visit China, you can also ask questions or find travel buddies in this Facebook group: Digital Nomads China Facebook Group
The stage is set for more global engagement, and some of the emerging business models in China can also be replicated elsewhere. If you’re interested in exploring related business or collaboration opportunities, feel free to connect with me.
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