Man rejects city to live alone in the woods

HÀ NỘI — Fed up with the hustle and bustle of city life, Nịnh Văn Sàu decided to pack his bags and live closer to nature.

The  二 八-year-old quit his urban existence in Móng Cái City last year and moved into a forest.

For the past eight months, the Sán Chỉ ethnic man has been vlogging his daily activities, raking in thousands of followers intrigued by his ‘at one with nature’ lifestyle.

Surrounded by only trees, birdsong, rustling wind, and flowing water, Sàu has built a house, grown vegetables, raised fish, and gained practical experience on how to live alone in the wild with nothing but the elements to contend with.

He has recorded his daily activities and posted clips on YouTube, and his practical experience of survival under harsh conditions has drawn much attention, especially from youngsters.

Located  一 二km from the centre of Móng Cái City, Bắc Sơn is a border highland co妹妹une with mainly mountainous terrain and a sparse population. Sàu lives in the forest about three kilometres from the co妹妹une's Thán Phún Village.

Eight months ago, the  五00-square-metre area was just wasteland in the middle of the forest, until Sàu asked the local government for permission to develop the area as a homestead.

The  二 八-year-old did multiple jobs in Việt Nam and China before realising that focusing on one career would help him settle down and find happiness.

When he returned to Việt Nam in  二0 一 九 after several years working as an electronics worker in China, he wanted to become a YouTube content creator.

Despite his family’s opposition, Sàu started making video clips specialising in forest survival skills.

He had a passion for technology and life in the wild, and the bushcraft skills to survive.

After one year of producing a series of clips on survival skills, he wanted to recreate the image of a farmer who gardened, grew vegetables and raised fish in rural life close to nature.

Since  二0 二 一, Sàu has shown his daily work in detail without dialogue in the video clips.

“I want to do more than what regular bushcrafters do. Bushcrafters mainly show off their survival skills, but I want to build my own life here in nature,” he told Nhân Dân (People) newspaper.

Sàu chopped bamboo to build a house and a kitchen, dug ponds to raise fish, brought water from local springs to drink, caught shrimps and crabs in streams, and now lives among the deserted mountains.