Lanmei Tales

Journey

After I got laid off in 2025, I applied for many jobs, but I kept receiving emails saying, "We decided not to move forward." At the same time, I started learning new skills like coding, but it was really difficult. It takes a lot of time and consistency to become good at it. Especially now, with AI everywhere, many people skip learning the fundamentals and jump straight to using AI tools. Building real expertise takes much longer, and getting a job in IT is much more challenging than simply learning how to use AI.

Even so, I'm still glad I started learning. Although I haven't mastered it, I now have a basic understanding of the fundamentals, and I believe that knowledge will always be valuable.

I planned to keep going because I didn't want to stay at home doing nothing. I knew I had to do something, but I kept asking myself, "What should I do?" My sister suggested that I try creating content. At first, I was very unsure. I was embarrassed. My very first video even used an AI-generated voice because I was too shy to use my own. I had so many videos and photos on my phone that could tell meaningful stories, but I had never shared them.

On top of that, I was also confused about my niche and content format. I looked at creators living in China and experimented with different ideas. Some creators focused on their relationships and shared intimate moments with their spouses. I couldn't do that—I was simply too shy, and my husband doesn't enjoy being on camera either.

Other creators focused on marriage documents and immigration processes. I made similar content, but it felt too specific and only relevant to a small group of people. After watching one of those videos, my sister said, "Yeah... it's about documents again." She couldn't really relate to it. That's when I realized I wanted to create content that everyone could enjoy, not just people who wanted to marry a Chinese person.

Result

In the end, one of my videos unexpectedly took off. It reached more than 1 million views on TikTok and over 500,000 views on Instagram. Actually it wasn't a highly educational video. I was simply talking about how I met my husband, and people loved it.

That experience taught me that people connect with authenticity more than perfection. From that moment, I decided to simply be myself and honestly share what life feels like from my perspective as an Indonesian living in China.

Within two months, I grew my Instagram account to 6,000 followers and even secured several brand collaborations. I'm incredibly grateful for how far it has come in such a short time, and I hope to keep growing while staying true to the kind of content I want to create.

Lanmei Tales is my way of documenting the real, nuanced daily life in China, both its challenges and its beauty. Along the way, I share Mandarin phrases, cultural insights, and everyday experiences from my perspective. It's not a fairy tale, it's Lanmei Tales.

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