I just feel lost, the middle-aged people living in the Youth Brigade are young | the crowd | the Youth Brigade
Recently, the news that some youth hostels refused to accommodate people over 35 years old has sparked a heated discussion among netizens, and has also reminded many middle-aged people of their youth as backpackers - more than a decade ago, youth tourism culture began to prevail in this land, and the number of accommodation groups has become more diverse. The stories in youth tourism are not just about youth narratives, but also about people of all ages.
Time has passed, and youth tourism has gradually become a travel memory for the 80s and 90s generations. Previously, niche travel routes and strategies that travelers exchanged and cherished with each other have now become easily accessible online information; Many youth travel agencies have downplayed the attributes of social and public spaces, becoming "low-cost bed rooms"; More and more students are living in youth tourism to find jobs, and the topics that tenants care about, worry about, and discuss have also changed... As interviewee Yang Wang said, "Times are changing, and I just feel lost."
Blocked by the age threshold
When 48 year old Miss Min came to Beijing for a trip, she habitually opened a youth hostel in her collection to book a room, but suddenly found that the details page read "Multiple rooms do not accommodate customers over 35 years old.". Miss Min, who has more than a decade of experience staying in a youth hostel, was stopped by the hostel for the first time due to her age.
At that time, she was not feeling well, but she also understood the shop owner. When Min Jie was young, she had worked as a volunteer at the Dali Youth Hotel. "From the perspective of the hostel, if older people live in multiple bunks, it is indeed inconvenient to go to the bathroom at night, and the Youth Hotel cannot bear the risk of customers falling off." In the end, Min Jie still chose a single room at this youth hostel.
Restricting the age of check-in is currently a check-in rule set by some youth travel agencies for the convenience of management. In the youth travel industry, many youth travel bosses do not recognize this practice.
Bi Aofei opened a youth hostel in Quanzhou, Fujian, without limiting the age of guests. He believes, "Middle aged people are just the definition of the population in this society. Youth hostels themselves are diverse and inclusive. How can age be used as an excuse to save time?"
However, he found that currently there are not many people over the age of 40 in China who choose youth tourism. Many people do not choose youth tourism when they have certain economic conditions. Some middle-aged people have to take care of their children when traveling, and only some old backpackers are used to living in youth tourism.
In the past four years, Yu Bai, born in the 1980s, has lived in more than a dozen cities of youth tourism - Osaka, Haikou, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Nanning, Chaozhou, Pingyao... When she saw news about restrictions on middle-aged people staying in youth tourism, she was surprised and said, "Although businesses have the right to choose to do so, how can age represent a person's lifestyle and behavior?"
Age did not become a barrier for Miss Min to make friends in the youth tourism industry. Instead, she made many friends. "Some people think that middle age shouldn't be associated with young people, but when I was abroad, I was already 50 years old, and those born in the 2000s also liked to chat with me. They would be curious about my poor English and why I still play around the world and dare to ride motorcycles in Africa."
Miss Min has also taken her child to stay in the Youth League, and she and her ten year old daughter share a bed each. She said, "I want to teach children how to integrate into a collective life, learn to abide by rules and etiquette, live in a multi person room, and not speak loudly at night, and make more friends."
Most foreign youth travel agencies do not have age restrictions, and the design of stairs on the upper and lower floors of most foreign youth travel agencies has created a staircase style staircase that is convenient for people to get up and down. Sister Min thinks that the atmosphere of foreign youth hostels is better than that of domestic youth hostels. "It is mainly reflected in the tolerance. All kinds of people live together. I met a 62 year old Taiwan, China sister in the youth hostel in Thailand. We met in Chiang Mai and played together."
The Youth Travel Era of Backpackers
In the 1990s, Minjie worked as an assembly line worker in a factory in Shenzhen. She often took vacations or took time off to play. "Although poetry and distant places are beautiful, tickets are not cheap, so whenever I go out, my first choice is Youth Travel." Minjie's first time living in Youth Travel was in Chengdu, when she was only in her thirties, almost 20 years ago, when backpacker culture was prevalent.
Even before the concept of youth travel became popular, Miss Min had already embarked on a backpacker's journey and longed for this kind of life of traveling everywhere. "I haven't read much books, but I also enjoy going out to see the outside world. In order to reduce my travel expenses, everyone lives in a youth hostel." Around 2000, Miss Min went to Lijiang alone for a trip, and local farmers placed three single beds in their rooms, which became the earliest sprout of domestic youth hostels.
In the following decade, backpacker culture grew and influenced many young people along with the establishment of youth hostels. Yang Wang read a travel literature book called "Ten Years of Backpacking" in high school, which opened the door to a new world for him. "I can't even imagine that there are people who can live like this, go to so many places, and meet so many interesting people." Under the pressure of the college entrance examination, he was full of longing for the outside world at that time. Afterwards, he often watched travel influencer posts and documentaries on various websites and forums, imagining his future travels.
Finally, when he was in college, Yang Wang lived in the Youth Brigade for the first time, with a bed costing less than fifty yuan, near Kuanzhai Alley in Chengdu. As soon as he opened the gate of the youth hostel, several wooden beds and friendly faces greeted him. There were still graffiti on the walls from past guests, and he felt that "tourism should be like this.".
For every subsequent trip, Yang Wang would choose Youth Travel Service. For the longest time, he stayed in the same youth brigade for more than a week. That time, when he was riding to Lhasa, he encountered a mudslide. The road from Lulang to Bomi was washed out, so he had to stay in the nearby youth brigade
When everyone gathers together, they always share their travel itinerary, "very sincere, sharing the pitfalls they have stepped on and the experiences they have summarized." Yang Wang said that the subsequent itinerary of that trip became incredibly fulfilling because of the information from these people, "not a single pitfall was stepped on.".
Besides travel information, being able to make friends is another reason why many people stay in youth tourism. People from all over the world live in the Youth Travel Agency. They can confide in strangers about their inner thoughts that are difficult to express to friends and family on a daily basis. "No one knows anyone, and everyone will communicate their doubts and thoughts about life, work, and relationships.". Miss Min can still remember the feeling of staying in the Youth Brigade every time. "It was a sense of familiarity. As soon as I pushed the door open, everyone greeted me kindly. The store also often organized different activities, bringing different people together, including making dumplings, making handicrafts, traveling together, and so on, creating a warm atmosphere of a big family."
Now it has become a low-priced bed room
As time goes by, many youth travel agencies have downplayed their social attributes and turned to "low-priced bed rooms". Some youth travel agencies have also set certain age restrictions on occupants. This has left many old backpackers deeply moved, but the "building" of the youth tourism era did not collapse suddenly.
The most obvious omen is a decrease in the number of veteran youth brigades. Many youth hostels that rely on emotions have been closing down in recent years. "Many people opened youth hostels out of love and emotion at the time, but after the epidemic, many shops closed down, and there are really very few that can withstand it," Yang Wang sighed. He stayed in the cheapest travel agency, the Old Town of Lijiang in 2020, for only 8 yuan a day. There were few tourists at that time, and the travel agency was closed without surviving the winter.
Another manifestation is that the residential group of youth tourism has undergone changes. This summer, Yang Wang came to Shanghai to attend a concert and chose a youth hostel in the city center. As soon as he entered, he felt a sense of fatigue. The room was very quiet, and there were several students who came to Shanghai to find jobs and internships. Because living in the youth hostel was convenient for commuting and the price was slightly lower than renting a house, their beds were filled with some things needed for long-term living. Some people hung their suits on hangers by the bedside. "The public area is also very quiet, and the shop has set up some seats with sockets, making it more like a boarding and self-study room."
In previous youth travel social interactions, individual life experiences and travel stories were the most popular chat topics, but now communication methods have also changed. "As soon as you enter the room, almost everyone is playing with their phones because there are all kinds of information on the internet, such as which destination you want to go to, which path you have, and various strategies that appear as soon as you search on social media." Yang Wang feels that the era of streaming media has changed a lot, and gradually, residents living in youth tourism no longer need the direct communication they used to have.
Yang Wang recalled the situation around 2015 and referred to it as "our time", with a tone that was somewhat melancholic: "At that time, the majority of young tourists were students who traveled short distances, accounting for about half, followed closely by backpackers who traveled year-round, accounting for about 20%, and the rest were people who stayed for a long time and searched for answers to life." However, in some popular tourist cities, there were still quite a few middle-aged backpackers, and some "old hikers" like Min Jie were still on the road. ".
Nowadays, many people are emphasizing the quality of accommodation when traveling, and the atmosphere of youth travel has quietly changed, creating a subtle sense of boundaries between people. "People have become more concerned about personal privacy and are less willing to get to know others," said Min Jie. This year, when she went on a trip, she stopped at a youth hostel in Chengdu, but she felt that it was no longer the youth hostel in her memory - a bungalow with three separate rooms, smart electric locks, self-service check-in, no boss, and no greeting from guests.
"Perhaps that era has really passed, with each generation facing its own challenges, and those living in youth tourism are more likely to face new pressures due to the pressure of life. Seeking jobs, interning, and working in the city has become their new pressures. It was a beautiful era, but unfortunately, I only encountered one tail." But Yang Wang believes that the influence of youth tourism culture on him is continuous - after graduation, he found a 9-to-5 job in the provincial capital. Apart from mechanical work, he still squeezed out holidays to travel and experience different lifestyles of different people, so he used to view the world with an inclusive perspective.
Yang Wang still remembers those people: someone quit their job in Guangdong and flew to Lijiang to relax, sitting by the lake sunbathing every day; Some people have already retired and are living in various places, setting up small calligraphy and painting stalls at different intersections of youth tourism streets; Some people do field research and live in youth camps to chat with different people. Everyone gathers in the public space of the Youth Travel Agency to talk about travel, literature, philosophy, art, and life. No one cares about your education or income... It's like a utopia.
