A young Chinese man working as a bilingual English–French translator on Guinean infrastructure projects has found an unusual way to connect with Chinese youth. On the video platform Bilibili, he opened an account to document life on construction sites. To his audience’s surprise, his videos reveal rare, detailed glimpses of how Chinese railway and tunnel projects are actually built in Africa.
In his latest episode, titled “How Much Can You Really Earn as a Translator in Africa? Can You Actually Endure It?”, he switches fluidly between English, French, and Chinese to walk viewers through the construction of a mountain tunnel. He explains step by step how water seeping from underground is drained, how radar detectors are used on the tunnel arch to test the quality of cement walls, and why aerial work platforms require trained specialists who are always in short supply on African sites.
He films the process of quality checks after construction, from testing the stability of drainage covers on tunnel walls to measuring concrete strength with a rebound hammer. He even captures the final stages of rail installation: flash-butt welding, precision grinding, and carefully tightening the tracks piece by piece.
The blogger doesn’t stop at the construction site. His camera follows him into the laboratory where piles of technical reports await processing. He also documents his own bout of illness, noting with curiosity that the medicine prescribed to him came from Cambodia and India.
By the end of the video, he reflects on the many roles translators in Africa often play: coordinator, quality inspector, document controller… He poses the question to his audience: “So, tell me, how much should my salary be?”
Why Is This Important? Until now, most Chinese vloggers in Africa have primarily focused on their daily lives or business ventures. His channel is one of the few to show the intricate, technical side of China’s infrastructure projects abroad. His own biography reads like a generational diary: “2023, I quit my job to travel across China. 2024, out of money, I went to Africa to earn. In 2025, found the pay was better than at home, so I stayed.”
Against the backdrop of China’s slowing economy and shrinking job market, his candid storytelling resonates with many young viewers. Educated and pragmatic, he brings frontline knowledge of engineering and construction to a Chinese audience, offering not just information but a rare sense of connection with Africa. Through his lens, China’s projects in the Global South feel tangible, professional, and human.
