Tastes of tomorrow

A new documentary series looks at a future where people are more likely to enjoy a nomadic way of life. Xu Lin reports.

Life in the future can be easy and diversified. You can establish your own home just like building blocks, have a robotic kitchen cook delicious dishes catering to your tastes and move your furniture by touching a button.

As space becomes more precious in big cities, you can stay in a functional collective house and have nibble on vegetables from a greenhouse on the rooftop.

All these scenarios can be found in the seven-episode documentary Future Home, the stories about life and technology of dozens of young talented people from 16 cities in seven countries such as the United States, the Netherlands and Iceland.

Clockwise from top: Host Mike Gao of the documentary Future Home operates a giant robot in San Francisco Bay Area; the host and hostess, Gao and Shao Jingzhu (middle), visit a greenhouse in New York; a functional collective house especially designed for youngsters in New York. Photos Provided to China Daily

"Settling down in one place won't be common in the future, when youngsters are more likely to live a nomadic way of life. They are looking at the world more differently than before," says Liu Yang, producer of the documentary.

"Our life has been pervaded by advanced technology, but the basic needs of human beings such as making friends and affection between blood relations will never change."

Whaley Technology Co Ltd and youth culture media Vice China coproduced the documentary to delve into the trends of the youngsters' lifestyles in the future.

Each episode has attracted more than 3 million hits on average after release on Chinese video sites in early May, with a weekly update.

Plans are to broadcast the documentary on Chinese satellite TV channels and overseas websites as well.

In October, the international team set off for a 45-day trip to seven countries for filming.

The audience would watch as the hosts immerse themselves into the local life and chat happily with the interviewees.

"In the past, similar documentaries tended to prove that Chinese are as good as foreigners when they go abroad. However, we want to express that youngsters don't need to prove anything because we can communicate with foreigners freely due to globalization," says Liu.

"That's real confidence - to exchange views about life experience and making friends."

He says most viewers are between 23 and 30, including many university students, and they reply positively. Some are amazed by the new lifestyles and creativity they see, and some comment on the documentary from their own professional perspectives such as architecture and journalism.

"These people are doing their utmost to make life much better such as to protect the environment. I also want to do something meaningful like that in the future," says Lyu Yaning, 21, a junior university student from Qingdao, Shandong province, who is a fan of the documentary series.

"I hope youngsters will not think about home in a fixed way - buying a house, getting married and having a child," says the Beijing-based director, 29-year-old Han Xia.

"They should have different lifestyles and keep their creativity and curiosity. Being open-minded and abandoning stereotypes are also important.

"Wherever you feel comfortable, that place is your home."

For her, storytelling is important. Science and technology are really fascinating, but she also wants to focus on their own thoughts such as why they want to make a creative product.

Her favorite story: The youngsters from Shenzhen, Guangdong province, who have devoted themselves to their robots for a contest.

"They're the future engineers in China, who will eventually change our lives. The story presents their current lives and we may also ponder over whether we have stereotypes about those who are in their early 20s," she says.

She is also impressed by the engineers in Bangalore, India, who are resolutely coming back to India after finishing their studies in the US, because they want to make contributions to their motherland.

For example, Anirudh Sharma founded the startup Air Ink, to capture black particles from the tailpipes of cars through a device, and then transform them into paint or ink.

"We may have stereotypes toward many countries just as some foreigners have stereotypes toward China. But you can only have an authentic understanding about a place after you actually go there and experience it yourself," she says.

Liu, the series producer, says his team also started a Future Home project to renovate a 44-square-meter apartment in a historic hutong in downtown Beijing. It's a versatile space that satisfies multiple demands of both individuals and families, ranging from daily life to parties and a small home office.

The kitchen and bathroom are of a WikiHouse type.

WikiHouse is a project from London, as was introduced in the documentary, which is about designing and building simplified, sustainable houses.

Users can download different building plans from its website and then create jigsaw-puzzle-like pieces made of plywood, and assemble the house frame in less than a day.

One can simply use the Future Home app on Whaley TV to control all the domestic appliances and even move the furniture and the three walls to reconstruct the house's layout.

"The house is built for youngsters growing up in the digital era, who may not prefer to live a fixed life. Our Future Home being built in Beijing represents just one of the many possibilities," he says.

Who can move into their newly renovated Future Home? Liu says the show is looking to attract young people with interesting stories first: "One can use one's own life stories to exchange for stays in the house."

Contact the writer at xulin@chinadaily.com.cn