China's Dongbei Is Emptying Out: Netizens Film the Collapse the CCP Hides

Are there any normal jobs left in small towns? Finding photography work is harder than reaching the sky. Everyone fights over the good jobs. Employers pick and choose, and I'm the one left out. Why is it so hard? Dear state, just let us 90s kids retire. Forget hiring. If I hadn't seen it myself, I'd never know Meihe's economy was this bad. This village once had 137 households, 618 people. Now, 7 households, 16 people. When we went to this school, it had over 200 students. Look at it now, abandoned for years. This is a northeast shopping street. Great. Only old people. I'm only 26, and I can't find a job. Ordinary people, don't have kids. Yes. It's a kindness, know what long unemployment does to your mind? Food has no taste, I can't sleep, nothing feels worth doing. What worries me isn't joblessness, it's that I can't take the hardship. These two years, the Northeast lost people fastest, some abroad, some working elsewhere. Hardly anyone's home, Meihe had 600,000 people. Barely 200,000 remain, I'm back. See? See this breakfast shop behind me? It was here before I left, opened for years, now it's up for lease. lease. Every business on this street keeps changing hands. And I've I plan to work back in the northeast, but every time I open a job app, my heart sinks. Pay is low, but that's not the main thing. I expected it. I I'd even take a pay cut to go home. The real killer. My friend from Heilongjiang, I'm from Jilin, she said what she fears most is having to beg favors for everything. They That hurts me too. Thank you. The Northeast runs on connections. In the Northeast, it seems even if you just want to be a sanitation worker sweeping the streets, you need someone on the inside to get the job. Northeast China has been losing people for over a decade. Mainland media report that from 2015 to 2024, the three northeastern provinces lost over 11 million people, an entire Harbin's worth. Many moved to Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shandong, and the southern coast. It is one of China's worst-hit regions. That's huge, isn't it? One local filmed his village, many families gone, houses left empty. The house has been moved. The house is empty. Almost no one living there. He says many villages look the same, so desolate they recall the old Great Northern Wilderness. Thank The cities too. Thank Shen Yun's once busy Laobishi Street, now has empty shops, for lease signs, and few people. you Hello everyone, welcome to another episode of China Unplugged. A local side, small towns are empty. very Oh, Only bigger cities have people. Will the northeast disappear? you. Here. much. Finding photography work is so hard. I used to shoot in Tianjin, making about 10,000 a month. But floating outside is really... But I never belonged, and housing was pricey. So I came home. Hi, I was ready for half the pay. Hey. But after job hunting, it wasn't just a let down. It was a total breakdown. Every job wants shooting, editing, marketing, copy, directing. Thank you very much. Are you making wishes? One person doing five jobs. Young people in Shen Yun have it so hard. Two years ago, I put a million yuan into a women's clothing store at Tiexi Wanda. Thank you very much. Believe it or not, some days we sold nothing. I think. I went over it, location, products, service, even our styling. What are you feeling? What I never imagined, Shen Yun's young people are broke. We want young people who have no money. Don't believe me? Stop anyone and ask if they have any savings. Greetings. Despite the traffic, Shen Yun is a 4,000 yuan wage city. The The blogger says Shen Yun's young people are struggling. Sibling Money is tight, so they rob Peter to pay Paul. Young people can barely cover basic living costs, so where would they find extra money to spend? She sighed that she put 1 million yuan into this women's clothing store, but judging by how business is going now, she truly has no idea when she will ever earn it back. I'm going home for a wedding. Here's something sad and funny. I'm from the northeast, working in Hangzhou. I went home for my wedding on June 18, after months of planning. It went smoothly, all our family came. I planned to rest two days, then go back to work in Hangzhou. But the next day, the 19th, My boss told me the company would close on the 22nd. The Lord said, The blogger was stunned. He'd come home happy to marry. And lost his job right after. Helpless, and absurd. Third, Nobody's richer than northeasterners. Their money's on their backs and feet, never in their pockets. House on fire? No rush, the valuables are on them. Job or no job, it's head to toe Colun, Descente, Kailas and Arc'teryx. My friend's brother borrows and pays in installments just to wear them. Thank Back in the Northeast, I see it in almost every city, hardly any young people left. That's right. There are only a few young people left in the family. Home just doesn't suit the young. First, jobs. Wages never rise. you Rise. Ten years ago in Harbin I made 4000 with room very and board, now not a cent more. More. With the economic winter, layoffs are worse, benefits too. much. Yes, two. Most jobs pay two or three thousand. Look at the countryside. Side by side. In my village, at night, the road, and in the daytime too, is basically empty, houses on both sides, so many vacant. The old man must be old by now. Hi, I'm an 80s born Northeasterner working in Dongguan. I came at 28. It's been 12 years. I gave this city my best years, but it can't give me a stable job. job. That's right, I'm unemployed. Job hunting is brutal. My resumes vanish, age limits, experience demands, not even an interview. Past 35, it's like you can't work anymore. They say revitalize the Northeast, with no one left, take this village, it was busy. Here was the station, every train let people off. Now it's empty, all in ruins. Ruins. Go to any province or city in the south and you'll hear the northeastern accent, you'll find northeasterners everywhere. The only place without northeasterners now is the northeast itself. I fled Harbin's 3000 wages. 84 days in Hangzhou, triple the pay. I'm alive again, lying in bed last night, looking back, I felt both teary and grateful. In Harbin, rent took 1600 of my 3000. I barely got by. A bullying boss, office politics, newcomers harassed for nothing. Fired without cause, I fought through arbitration. My My landlord kept my deposit. No one helped. The blogger says the grievances nearly suffocated her. She She gave up on Harbin. He was completely disappointed in Harbin. So she decided to set off alone for Hangzhou, a thousand miles away. To her surprise, soon after arriving in Hangzhou, she found a job she really loved. All the grievances and injustice she had endured alone in Harbin gradually melted away in Hangzhou, as her life slowly got back on track. The job market in Harbin right now is not friendly at all to the unemployed, especially middle-aged people in their 30s. Let me tell you, finding work is exhausting. I just came back from a job interview, and it did not go well. Earlier, when my friend lost his job, he told me, go ahead and look for work in Harbin, it's brutal. A 5 or 6 thousand yuan job with no strings attached? You're lucky to find even one. In the end, 80% of my buddies went south. They They all drifted south. This is our village. This is a woman. Look at this row. Look at this pole. Hardly any families left. The houses are empty. My hair is all curled up. Such good houses, sitting empty. Nobody here. I'm from Heilongjiang. As a Northeasterner, I'm not smearing home. But why can't this vast black earth keep its children? Every year more leave. In short, no jobs, no family money, no connections. What are we supposed to do? Take that PhD who came back from studying abroad. He said it himself, I can't stay in Shen Yun, in Shen Yun I can't find a job. If even a PhD can't find work, then where are ordinary people like us supposed to look? I'm 37 and lost my job early this year. At first I wasn't worried. 15 years of work, a decade of experience. I figured finding a job would be easy. I never imagined it would be this hard. In all of Shen Yun, apart from telemarketing, it's insurance telemarketing, car telemarketing, Real Estate Telemarketing Other than those three, nobody will even give me an interview. You don't give me any chance to interview you. No wonder the northeast has no nightlife. It's It's too cold. It's because it's too cold. It's nine o'clock and everything's shut. But to. Too cold, nobody comes out. Who's coming out? No one's coming out. As China's economy slides and layoffs spread, young people who toiled for years in China's top cities, they began leaving the first-tier cities and going back to their hometowns in the northeast. Thank you. They thought the cost of living there was low. And going back would at least ease the financial pressure. But once they actually got home, they discovered that although they could afford a place to live, it was very hard to find a job with a stable income. Lianhe Zaobao reports 33-year-old Feng Jingyuan spent 10 years in Beijing, after unpaid wages and a layoff. She returned to Shen Yun. She said, With no savings, at least her parents could help, and no rent. Rent. But Shen Yun's jobs fell far short. Thank Postings promising 5 to 10 thousand a month rely on commissions, you with six-day weeks and hidden overtime. And I'm worried for Given a choice, she goes south again. your Thank you again. that there are A couple back from Nanjing faces the same. Thank support. a lot of people Xiaoyu was transferred to Shen Yun. Her husband Xiao Zhao found nothing and stayed in Nanjing. Thank you who are working With the baby due, he's anxious but helpless. for Thank overtime. Outside state jobs, he says, Shen Yun's work is low-paid and grueling. you your Yeah. Young people won't stay. you very Young northeasterners go to college in the big cities, time. then stay to work in Beijing or Shanghai, very much. the elderly here are like migrating birds. In October, those who can afford it fly to Hainan. much. Then around mid-May, we fly back to the northeast, to escape the summer heat, then back to Hainan in October. So many northeasterners buy homes there. Let me tell you how hard job hunting really is. I thought layoffs came at 35. I'm 26 and jobless. My resume is decent. I graduated in 2023, worked at mid-size firms, and changed jobs three times in three years. So now, with a resume like this, plus my age, I actually cannot find any particularly good job on the market at all. Liaoning is turning into one giant monastery of bachelors. Know which Liaoning city has the most single men? Shen Yun first, then Dalian, then Jinzhou. Who in Changchun is actually working? I was let go in May last year, and it's been over a year now that I haven't had a job. I I just can't find work. There's nothing suitable near home, and otherwise it's only sales jobs or live stream hosting, things like that. Finding a proper job is so hard. All right.