A Day in the Life of an Office Worker in Shenzhen, China

Channel: Ting-Daily life in China Published: December 21, 2025 Duration: 15:13 Views: 1.6M

What this video shows

Ting is a 29-year-old office worker living in Shenzhen, China. Her day begins with a slow wake-up in a small apartment, where she stretches, makes tea, and does light makeup before leaving at 8:40 am. She walks to work, picking up breakfast from a street vendor, and arrives early enough to unlock the office door. Her workday includes a one-hour lunch break and online-ordered food, and she finishes in time to catch the sunset on her walk home.

At a glance

LocationShenzhen, China
SettingLarge city, living in an urban village
What it coversA single office worker's daily routine from morning to evening
Costs mentionedBreakfast from a street vendor: less than $1; lunch ordered online (beef soup with rice noodles): $2.4
Time of dayMorning wake-up through sunset and finishing work

What stands out

Ting lives on the 7th floor of a building with no elevator, in what she calls an urban village with old buildings. She notes that elevators make rent more expensive in big cities, but her location still allows a 30-minute metro ride to the city center. Her bathroom is very small, and she mentions her hair quality has worsened over the past two years, which she suspects is from the water. She describes her work as simple and boring, admitting she sometimes feels lost but works to survive. Lunch is typically ordered online, and she spends her one-hour break sitting in the sunshine scrolling Chinese TikTok.

Video transcript

Hi my name is Ting and I am 29 years old living in Shenzhen China it's so hard for me to wake up, after the long working hours I like to stretch my body which helps me to wake up this is my little cute panda lamp which I love it very much please don't judge me, my bathroom is very small last two years, it seems my hair quality is not good, it's probably from the water time to make my tea you maybe heard that Chinese people like to drink a lot of tea :) time to do my makeup in chinese working culture, its not a must to do make up every day sometimes make

up gives me more confidence and maybe one day I also find a husband haha do u do make up everyday in your country ? I do easy and light make up saves a lot of time, and makes me feel so good time to go work 8:40 am here in Shenzhen, China is winter, but it feels like spring I live in the 7th floor... no elevator in big cities elevator makes the rent more expensive it's a urban village, old buildings, but easy to go city center by metro, 30 minutes I go work by walk the weather is very good today it's the most popular breakfast street vender, I love to

eat here it's very cheap, less than $1 today I need to take out, beacause I am alsmost late I am the one that needs to open the office door I wanna finish my breakfast first yummy noodles I am addicted to this noodles I finish very quickly my work is simple and boring sometimes I feel so lost in my life... but I have to work to survive in China we usually order the luch online, easy and fast I wanna eat healthy today, beef soup, rice noodles it costs $2.4 it arrived in 30 minutes lunch break time is one hour I like to seat under the sunsine, and scroll

chinese tiktok another 5 hours left I feel really tired, sitting in the office chair for 5 hours finally off work, this sunset makes me happy thanks for watching

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