Lightweight camping taking off in China
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Discussion keeps the world turning. This is Roundtable. You're listening to Roundtable with myself, Hye-Young. I'm joined by Steve Hatherly and Yu-Shun in the studio. Coming up. Have you noticed how today's young campers are ditching the heavy backpacks and bulky gear for ultra-light equipment? What's driving this shift to lighter camping essentials? Is it just about convenience? Or is there a whole new camping mindset?

shaping the way we explore the outdoors. And need a boost to crush the week? Our special segment, Motivational Monday, is your ultimate adrenaline shot to kick things off strong. Our podcast listeners can find us at Roundtable China on Apple Podcast. Got a question that's keeping you curious? From social issues to tech and everything,

everything in between, let us take a stab at it. Email us at [email protected]. Emails are fine, but voice memos are always better. It's our listeners' favorite. Now let's switch gears. Tired of camping with half your home packed into the back of your car? You're not the only one. Across China, a growing number of outdoor enthusiasts are packing light and traveling large by embracing lightweight camping with nothing more than a well-packed

Just enough food and a mindset that less really can be more. So what's behind this shift towards simplicity in the wild? Let's unpack the rise of lightweight camping and why it's gaining ground among nature lovers. What is lightweight camping?

Don't you need to bring a tent at least? Yes, you do, I think. Then how is that lightweight? Some can be heavier than others. Yeah, and try to bring the tent that is as light as possible. Like a raincoat. Yeah. Yeah, and from the name we can already see it is when you go for camping, but with relatively lighter gears where everything can be fitted into just one backpack and forget the large...

tents and Instagrammable dinner tables in the woods. Today's outdoor lovers in China are opting to travel light with just the essentials in the backpack, and they're discovering that nature is best enjoyed without the heavy load, as mentioned in a recent post.

by media outlet guangming.cn. And to be honest, camping, they're not supposed to be glamorous at all in the first place. It is the recent years that trend of glamping, the glamorous camping, making camping as glamorous

you know, trendy Instagrammable and people treat camping as, okay, it should be like that. Yeah, they do that or they'll, and you'll see a lot of videos about this too, where people will say, okay, I am one of those people. I love camping, but I also pack my entire house into my car. I bring everything that I possibly can. And then I get here and it is a nightmare because I have too much stuff.

Yeah, it does look really good on social media. But that's not the trend these days. People are trying to be as efficient as they possibly can in 2025 when it comes to their camping. There was a report from Statista not so long ago that projected that the camping gear market

will hit 63, almost 64 billion by the end of this year. And this region, the Asia Pacific region, and especially China, will be leading the charge, financially speaking, there. The camping market in China is huge. It's growing at a pace of 15, almost 16% per year. And within that, the demand for lightweight gear is skyrocketing.

skyrocketing. For 68% of first-time campers, weight is now the number one factor when choosing equipment. Yes, indeed. And I'm thinking what's contributing to this change? Well, you mentioned that the fast growth is happening in the rate of

growth, meaning that, okay, in the past, it could be just maybe one person going camping. Now, suddenly, there are five people going camping, and you're growing by fourfold. I see what you mean. Yeah, you can present a statistic any way you want. Yeah. Yeah. And it's sort of important to really drill down and get to what they're really talking about. But what is definitely something everybody understands

on social media, especially towards the platforms that have more of a

more affluent user base, such as Xiaohongshu, you can see that the notes on camping, also glamping, and now this, shall I say, super cheap or just lightweight camping, have really grown tremendously. And people really like this idea. Could you sort of explain to us a little bit more about

What does this kind of lightweight camping signify? How is it different from the traditional mindset of going camping? I think it's more of a minimalist approach, right? Because we went through the trend of people treating their camping experience like something luxurious. And camping gear is...

can be really, really, really expensive if you want it to be, and it can be really cumbersome. So I think what this trend represents is just kind of the opposite of what people have been doing, doing things in a way that's way more efficient, way more minimalistic, only taking what you need to, and then finding the equipment that meets those goals. You can find...

cookware, for example, and maybe we'll give an example or two, that is so small, if you looked at it unpacked, you'd have no idea what it was. And then you unpack it a little bit, you unfold it, and it turns out that it's something that you can actually cook with. People are headed in that direction because, number one, it's just the new trend, but number two, it's just way more convenient, too. That is one direction, I would say, the minimalism, but another direction is that people are going...

As well, extreme, but in extreme of more focus on high-end. More luxurious, I would say, because when you're trying to buy a light gear, it can be even more expensive. It could be more high-tech. Yes. Aluminum kind of material will make your stuff lighter, but more expensive. I received two cups, aluminum cups.

And wow, I searched the price of that two cups. That's astonishingly expensive. This is probably 300 yuan or more than that. For two little cups. Two little cups. I think it is maybe 450 milliliters. Wow. I wouldn't pay for that by myself, but as a gift, it is quite good. But anyway, people may spend a lot of money on that expensive light gears.

have you heard this expression? Pounds are cheap. Ounces are expensive. It's counterintuitive, but it applies here. I was watching a guy give tips for ultra lightweight campers on what they can do to save a little money. And he was talking about how products will say, because companies are aware, right? This ultra light camping is a trend around the world. And

They'll try to say, oh, well, this is two ounces lighter and you're going to save weight in your backpack. And it's true, but his point was, is it worth it? And he gave the example of a camping quilt that uses down feathers or it's a down blanket. And the difference in weight was, I think it was one ounce difference or two ounces difference. But the price difference between those two quilts was $75. Wow.

The lighter one by two ounces was $75 more expensive. Yes. That I can't understand. Just think about your expensive down jackets during the wintertime. And sometimes people say, oh, invest in a super light but warm product with super cool new technology. Well, that's going to be more expensive and it's going to be light and it's going to be better than the old one that is probably super thick and heavy.

heavy in comparison but also you guys just went the super luxurious and high-tech end the other end reminds me of um graduation from my British university when a lot of my classmates well my friends from school would go backpacking in around Europe and when you are a

poor student, you can travel light too because you're not going to invest in high-tech gear. You're just going to pack as much as you can or the useful stuff you need and you can go on a shoestring budget. So is the other side of the coin of lightweight, not backpacking, lightweight camping sort of similar to that? Yeah.

Yeah, I think so. It's just about the preparation, right? And I think, well, you just mentioned two terms there and you didn't mean to, but I think you said it kind of perfectly because backpacking and camping can now be combined, right? You can hike and camp together.

And the goal here with the ultralight camping style is to reduce as much weight as you can, right? And that's so that you can hike way, way, way more comfortably. And again, now I'll come back to that cookware point. Have you ever seen those little foldable stoves? Yeah. We have that. You have one? Yeah. Okay. I'll say what it is first and then you tell us the product review. It looks like a, I don't know, a deck of cards. Yeah.

It fits in the palm of your hand and you wouldn't know what it was to look at it, but then you unfold it and the middle folds upwards and there's two settings. You can stop at like a 45 degree angle and you can put a cup on it or you can go the full 90 degrees and put a pot on it and then underneath that you put a little fuel tablet.

that you light that will burn a fire for like, I don't know, 10 minutes, depends on the size of the tablet. - Or a can of gas. - Or a canister, that's the other style, but the one I saw was the foldable one. Anyway, you have the foldable one, what's the product review?

It is quite good and it is absolutely, I think, meeting the demand of people who like to cook outside or cook outdoor, I mean. Because this is the way, I would say, a lot of these glamping would reveal that you have a little car and you have that little stove in there and you can cook instant noodles outdoor and you can have that little warm meal outside.

You call that glamping? That's not glamorous in my book. But it is already better than foraging for berries. Making fire yourself. Making campfire with woods. But anyway, it is already good enough, I think, for most of the people who would like to go and enjoy a little bit of nature and experience that. And also just a quick caveat here. You are not supposed to make...

fire in the wild, you can't do that. That's banned. It's often just not following the rules. Make sure it's allowed. Yeah. So at the camping site, that's where you can do it. And do you think that, let's just maybe look at some of the gear that really stands out to you. What is the innovation happening?

I saw the little cooking stove was one really cool thing, but the thing that you put on the stove was also cool. It was a pot. They called it a pot, but it had an alloy bottom, and the sides were, I didn't catch the material that they used to make the sides, but it was like a collapsible rubber. Ah. Mm.

And you've seen these before? It's very cool. And you can have like hot, you can have water kettles using that. That's what it is. Yeah. It's basically, it's like a rubber kettle with an alloy bottom that you can put on top of a flame. So this could,

guy in the in the video he had taken no space in his backpack nothing and he takes out this little card holder which was the stove i call it a cold card holder it wasn't um and then this collapsible rubber thing and he made a fire and a pot of water and made a coffee or something like that and he was talking about heat retention you know that's an issue um when you boil water how long will the water stay hot or your food that you've made inside he said the

Heat retention was great. Seems like tech has really come a long way. We're not talking AI here, though, are we? It's just things that make your life easier in the wild. Yeah, like material scientists. Their innovations are meeting market demand in that sense. And do you think this is something that is taken up by the hardcore enthusiasts?

or maybe this is not as widespread as we think. - You have one of these, you have the camping equipment. Yushan, are you a hardcore enthusiast?

I don't think I am a hardcore enthusiast in that way. And I do think the trend of these ultra-light camping may be led by some of these hardcore enthusiasts because they are the ones who would like to pursue that high-quality, expensive, luxurious equipment or maybe to an extreme way of carrying a very light backpack. But the rise of, I think, the glamping back then

was largely driven by people's love for fussing over details, having a glamorous experience outdoor, and having gear that's as complete and aesthetically pleasing as possible became something everyone pursued. But traditional camping, in contrast, emphasizes that kind of minimalism as long as the most basic survival needs

are met and that's enough already. So I think these trends are also phenomena that were bound to emerge when people are chasing to next level of that kind of interest. I totally agree with you. Yeah, when you watch these, the people who make these types of videos online,

they're just a different type of person, right? All right, I'm out here in nature and I'm going to be getting my food and preparing it next to the river and the forest. Okay, relax. That's how I feel because I'm not a camper. But they're super into it and they seem to be the ones that are excited about all the new lightweight technology and giving the great advice. I think...

Walking into a camping store can be kind of an intimidating experience if you don't really know what it is you're looking for. So I would say if you're getting into camping...

There's no need to go for the top-end, high-tech, you know, the best of the best stuff. And experts give a great tip, too. If you're getting into it, go not so far away from your house, in case things go poorly, and just pack what you think you need and use it as a trial and error type thing. Yeah, I think for most...

everyday people who are getting into camping maybe you start with not overnight maybe just during the day yeah that's good too a picnic yeah that kind of thing but you also have your super light tent up and the kids can play house i don't know what they do in there but they're having a good time yeah

Yeah, just go home when the sun goes down, I guess, if you're just getting started. Maybe that's a good tip. Yeah, and there are plenty of parks where you can do that in big cities like Beijing. And also it kind of helps you to escape from the urban stress. Young people see camping as a way to unplug, slow down, and mentally recharge, especially after years of fast-paced city life and possibly screen fatigue.

Lightweight camping encourages minimalism, like you guys have demonstrated so well. Campers bring only what they need, cutting down on unnecessary packaging, disposables, and consumer waste. And that's what I truly hope for. Lightweight campers are more mobile and often leave stress-free.

behind and leave less trace. Smaller campsites, fewer vehicle trips, and a stronger leave no trace ethic.

But who knew camping could be this cool and climate-friendly with lighter gear and a fresh mindset? Mindset? Young folks are turning the great outdoors into their weekend happy place and doing it with heart and intention. Coming up next, Motivational Monday. Motivational Mondays. Motivational Mondays.

I feel I'm always ready for the gym after listening to that promo. Yeah, right. Yeah, so for this Motivational Monday, Steve, you have something special. Yeah, I think this kind of fits in with what we were talking about on the show today. You know, reduced carbon footprint slash getting out in nature kind of not really.

We have picked up, my wife and I, a new hobby in Beijing recently. We've started bicycling everywhere. Literally everywhere. It's so convenient. The bicycles are located all around the city and you just

Open up your app and QR code and boom, you're on it in seconds. On the weekend, we went from the west side of Beijing to an area in the northeast side of Beijing. And it wasn't about intense cycling. We were on the little yellow bikes.

you know, city biking with the little basket in the front, right? We went very slow. We took our time. We stopped for lunch, got back on the bikes, biked again, stopped for a coffee. And the thing that we loved the most about it

What a wonderful way to see Beijing. Unbelievable. The city is beautiful. It really is. And the bicycle lanes are so conveniently located. It's incredibly safe. Some of them are gorgeous. You separate off from the regular traffic into these tree-lined streets. We just thought it was such a wonderful discovery for us because...

When you live in a city the size of Beijing, and you could say this about Seoul or New York City or wherever, when you live in a city this size and you're constantly taking the subway or you're constantly in a taxi in the main traffic...

You don't get to feel the city, I think. On the weekend, we were on the bike for, what, three and a half hours. We felt Beijing. We were breathing Beijing. And we said to each other, wow, this is a much prettier city than even we realized it was. So my wife said, you know, we have a body. We should use it. So therefore, we got on the bikes and went. So that's my motivational Monday. You have a body. Use it. Get on the bikes. Go discover the city you're living in.

Awesome. Indeed. And that's something I would like to do this weekend. And what about you, Yushan? What do you have for us? Yeah. So when did you go biking? Is it on Sunday or Saturday? Both. We go both days these weekends, but the long trip was on Saturday.

Then be careful because it's getting warm and hot. Yes, yes. Right? And I spent a day on one of the longest day in the year, which is the summer solstice. It's one of the 24 solar terms. And it is the longest day of the year when the sun lingers in the sky just a bit longer. And I...

Luckily, had the incredible joy of witnessing two pairs of friends beginning their new chapters in their lives. And one couple had their wedding ceremony and another went to register their marriage. And of course, two different types of celebration, but the same core love, commitment and the courage to move forward together. And yeah.

It actually reminded me that love in all its forms is like the sun on the solstice. It may not always be visible, but it's

maybe burning hot, maybe, and when it shines, really shines. And it fills everything around it with just warmth, energy, and also hope. So yeah, love doesn't have to be that loud to be powerful or visible to be powerful. And the smallest steps taken in love can lead to the brightest days. Oh, so lovely. Going to a wedding turned him into a romantic poet from the 16th century. Oh yeah. Yeah.

And I like to share with you the fact that graduation season is upon us and our feeds are full of big commencement speeches from China and elsewhere. The ones by top graduates, CEOs, or big name alumni, all fitting the usual mold of mainstream success. But rarely do we hear from the people who keep the school running day in and day out. That's why the commencement speech by a

kitchen staff member Liu Xiaomei at Yanbian University in Jilin province that's in the north eastern part of China

It's so differently. She's not someone you typically see behind a podium in China, but her words move people to tears. She spoke from the heart, reminding graduates not to live on takeout. Home-cooked meals are always better, even if it's a hard-boiled egg and maybe some pai huang guo. That's the Chinese cucumber salad. When you're up late...

working overtime. Don't just settle for instant noodles. When you feel wronged or lonely, don't bottle it up. And whatever happens, don't carry it all alone. She reminded the graduates they are cherished, not just at home, but at school too. And here's a quote.

You're your parents' precious child, and you've been ours too. The whole support system, the whole support staff worked overtime to make 15,000 dumplings because in northern China, dumplings are for sending someone precious off.

and noodles are for welcoming them home. It's a blessing wrapped in dough. What struck many about this commencement speech was also that we so rarely see real working people on big stages.

But Liu Xiaomei stood there representing all the unsung heroes behind the scenes. And in that moment, Yanbian University gave us something more, that dignity and wisdom don't always wear a suit, and the most moving truths often come from everyday people.

To all graduates stepping into a brave new world, go build a future you're proud of, but carry with you the quiet grace of those who helped you get there. Step forward with courage. And remember, success isn't just where you arrive, but how you walk the road.

And that brings us to the end of today's Roundtable. Thank you so much, Steve Hatherly and Yu Shun for joining the show. Thank you for tuning in. You can find us on Apple Podcast at Roundtable China. I'm He Young. We'll see you next time.