Chinese Worker's Honest Videos Connect 145K Online Fans

At dawn on construction sites across China, 24-year-old Liu Yan ties rebar with cold-numbed fingers while her phone captures the reality most never see. She's one of the few young women in this male-dominated field, and she's inviting the world to watch.

Liu works 10-hour days on sites in Xi'an, earning about $43 daily when work is available. She pushes thick glasses up with dust-covered hands, ties steel reinforcement bars in freezing temperatures, and lifts heavy materials despite being the smallest worker on her team.

But something remarkable happened when she started posting videos of her workdays on Douyin, China's version of TikTok. Strangers became supporters, viewers became friends, and her honest documentation of construction work resonated far beyond what she imagined.

Her follower count has grown to 145,000 people who tune in to watch her daily life. During livestreams, they send messages of encouragement and care that fill a void created by distance from her two children, who live with her parents in rural Sichuan province.

Liu doesn't glamorize the work. She shows the grime on her face after pushing up her glasses, the thin gloves she wears despite the cold, and the physical toll of squatting for hours. She shares when she has to go home during her period because the pain is too much, and when she returns hours later because she needs the day's wages.

Why This Inspires

Liu's videos do something powerful: they make invisible labor visible. In an era where social media often showcases only polished lives, she's chosen radical honesty. Her willingness to share the unglamorous truth of her days has created genuine human connection across digital space.

The warmth from her online community isn't charity—it's recognition. Her followers see her determination, her work ethic, and her refusal to hide. They watch someone showing up every day, doing difficult work with dignity, and they respond with the respect that deserves.

For Liu, the support feels like family. For her followers, she's a reminder that hard work deserves acknowledgment, that struggle doesn't diminish worth, and that sometimes the bravest thing you can do is simply be seen.

She keeps showing up, both at construction sites and online, building something more than towers—she's building connection.