Who?
I’m Miriam Follin, born and brought up in southern Sweden. I moved to China in 2015 as an exchange student, and fell in love with both the country, its rich culture and Yonghong - my now-husband.
Being a Swedish-Chinese family, we lead a life that blends two very different cultures, languages and traditions. This has allowed us to experience a world very different from what we were accustomed to.
Currently, we live with our two boys in Qinghai, in the village where Yonghong grew up. We both work remotely, primarily through our social media accounts and Yonghong's online stores within mainland China.
If you want to know more about me and my husband, our social media is a great place to turn to. For those who do not speak or understand mandarin Chinese, the options so far are my own channels on Instagram and YouTube.
My YouTube channel & my Instagram account
We are also on many Chinese social media sites such as
Through many of these platforms you can find our online store, where we sell things such as our soaps. My husband also run’s a Taobao shop, called 米粒的一家.
What?
Why?
I stayed in a rural Chinese home for the first time in autumn 2015, when I visited my friend in her village a couple of hours outside of Xi’an. It was an experience I still cannot forget. For me, my personality, and my interests - rural China fit perfectly.
The beautiful surroundings and the slow lifestyle calms me down, inspires me, and helps me focus. The, to me, un-known and unexplored local culture, allows me to obsess and focus on exactly what I am interested in: food, handicraft, rural life, and personal stories.
Rural China is changing extremely fast - I have already witnessed many changes in the five years I have been here. How people farm, how people live, how they cook, how they practice tradition. I feel I have a unique chance to document life here, as it is now, before it changes and some might be lost forever. A mission I find important both on a larger historical scale, but also for the sake of my children.
When it comes to work, studies or hobbies - there is nothing that I have ever stuck to for as long as I have filmmaking. I began in 2017, and have loved it ever since. It is my work, but also my favourite hobby. That I get to combine my family, my filmmaking and my passion for the rural Chinese culture as my job, is my greatest blessing.
