Chopping firewood
and drinking water from the hills.
This is how a 37-year-old man has chosen to live his life
in densely populated Hong Kong.
We spent an hour traveling from Hong Kong’s bustling city center
to the rural countryside to visit Yeah Man.
For 13 years, Yeah Man has been living in the countryside.
And recently, he’s been living completely off the grid,
which means he doesn’t rely on the city’s water
and electricity supply.
Yeah Man began living away from the city soon after
he graduated from the prestigious University of Hong Kong.
He said he was inspired to abandon urban living
after he took a course on how to lead outdoor programs.
He now runs a social enterprise that takes urban dwellers
into the countryside to experience nature.
Yeah Man lives the kind of zero-waste lifestyle he preaches.
This means he tries to generate no trash
and consume as little as possible.
This even applies to his and his wife’s wedding rings,
which were made out of grass.
We got a house tour to find out how Yeah Man
gets his water, power, and fire.
Yeah Man has chosen to rent this particular house
because it is close to a stream.
The water flows into a tank,
then goes through pipes to the tap in his home.
By contrast, most of Hong Kong's water supply
comes from the Dong River,
about 50 miles away in China’s Guangdong province,
Hong Kong’s electricity generally comes from three sources:
coal imported from Indonesia,
oil and natural gas from mainland China,
and a nuclear power plant about 30 miles away from Hong Kong.
Yeah Man’s home is still connected to the grid,
but he chooses to use solar power whenever he can.
Yeah Man builds his own stove,
and collects wood and bamboo
from around his home for firewood.
Apart from teaching courses,
Yeah Man also runs a Facebook page to promote green living.
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