The Chinese Snowbird Heads South | Winter 2026–27, Ep. 1: Beihai

Uncle Li is 67, retired, and from Urumqi in China's cold northwest. Like many retirees from northern China, he heads south for the winter — a Chinese snowbird. First stop: Beihai, a seaside city in Guangxi. Street food, farmers' stalls, a sidewalk massage, oysters for $1.40, a modern supermarket, and retirees singing and dancing at sunset: this is everyday life in a small southern Chinese city. Chapters 0:00 Three prices to start 0:08 Meet Uncle Li 0:43 Where is Beihai? 1:06 Breakfast: cheung fun 1:27 Life on the sidewalk 1:39 Farmers' stalls 2:09 Street stalls 2:55 Sidewalk massage 3:20 Nanzhu Market 3:59 Oysters & seafood 4:33 The supermarket 5:05 The beach 5:26 Evening 5:56 Uncle Li's take 6:30 One more thing Prices (approx. 7.2 yuan = $1) Cheung fun: 6 yuan (~85¢) Fresh veggies: 2.5 yuan / 500 g (~$0.30/lb) 8 oysters: 10 yuan (~$1.40) Roadside haircut: 5–8 yuan (~$1) Sidewalk massage, 40 min: 40 yuan (~$5.60) Filmed by Uncle Li on his phone. English narration is AI-generated. Chinese subtitles available (CC). #ChineseSnowbird #RetireInChina #Beihai #ChinaTravel #RealChina #CostOfLiving