I met a YouTuber on the bus from the Shanghai airport to our government-mandated 14-day quarantine hotel in Ningbo. He was returning from the US with his family trying to out-run the COVID-19 virus that had just hit the US. I was doing the same thing – for slightly different reasons. Anyway, we became friends during quarantine, talking frequently on WeChat and we stayed in touch after we were released. Because we’re both creatives with roots in the midwest of the US we decided to collaborate on several projects, which turned into several episodes on his YouTube channel (JaYoe Nation).

Matt’s channel was dedicated to cycling around the planet and making videos about his adventures, but the pandemic ended that business model. Since March he’s been making videos about life in Ningbo, traveling in China, and his opinions about the situation in the US. His number of followers has swelled because of the world’s interest in China during the early stages of the pandemic. Matt is a great guy with a huge personality and appetite for life. It was amazing traveling with him on a couple of adventures (Chongqing for a week + Geely city + Shanghai a couple of times).

Below are some of the episodes that I’ve appeared in, including a mini-documentary about my village project (Chinese Village Soon To Be Erased). They are chronological, with the second video about our trip to the quarantine hotel.

Edit – 5/29/21: Added one last video that Matt and I made together at an abandoned village near my apartment in Ningbo.