The year China’s famous road-tripping ‘auntie’ found freedom

Sixty-year-old Chinese grandmother Su Min had no intention of becoming a symbol of women.

She was just trying to escape her abusive husband when she hit the road in 2020 in her white Volkswagen hatchback with a tent on the roof and a pension.

“I felt like I could breathe,” he says, recalling the moment he left his old life. “I felt like I could survive and find the way of life I wanted.”

Over the next four years and 180,000 miles, the videos he shared of his experiences, where he described years of pain, earned him millions of fans online. They called her “auntie on the road” as she unknowingly became a hero to the women who felt like she was in their lives.

Her story is now a popular film released in September – Like a Rolling Stone – and she made it to the BBC’s list of the 100 most inspiring and influential women in 2024.

It was a year of great moments, but if he had to describe what 2024 means to him in one word, he says that word would be “freedom”.

As soon as Su Min started driving, he felt comfortable, he told the BBC by phone from Shenyang – before heading south for winter in his new SUV and trailer.

But it wasn’t until 2024, when they got divorced, that they got “some kind of freedom”.

It took some time to get there: it was very difficult in China and her husband refused to divorce her until she agreed to pay him. He got 160,000 yuan ($21,900; £17,400) but is still waiting for the divorce papers to arrive.

But he is sure he doesn’t want to look back: “I’m saying goodbye to him.”

In her new life on the road, Su Min’s job is for herself.

His videos are mostly about himself. Even though he drives alone, he doesn’t seem lonely. He chats with his followers as he films his journey, sharing what he’s been cooking, how he’s been the day before and where he’s going.

His audience takes him to places they never knew they would want – the snow-capped mountains of Xinjiang, the ancient river towns of Yunnan, the sparkling blue seas, the vast grasslands, the endless deserts.

He appreciates his courage and admires the freedom he has received. He has never heard many real-life references like “Auntie China”.

“You are so brave! You chose to be free,” wrote one follower, while another encouraged her to “live a good life for yourself!”. A woman asked for advice because she too “dreams of driving alone” and a frightened follower said: “Mum, look! “

For others, the takeaways are positive but encouraging: “After watching your videos, I learned this: as women, we should own our own home, develop long-distance relationships, work hard to become financially independent, and invest in unemployment insurance!”

Through it all, Su Min is dealing with her past. A stray cat he meets on the street reminds him of himself, both of them “have lived with the wind and the rain for years but they continue to love this land that has dust on our faces”. A visit to the market, where she smells pepper, brings the “smell of freedom” because throughout her marriage spicy food was forbidden by her husband who did not like it.

For years Su Min was a devoted daughter, wife and mother – even as her husband repeatedly beat her.

“I was a traditional woman and I wanted to stay in my family for the rest of my life,” she says. “But in time I saw that I did not find anything to repay all my efforts and efforts – only beatings, violence, mental torture and light.”

Her husband, Du Zhoucheng, admitted to beating her. “It’s my mistake that I hit you,” he said in a video he recently shared on Douyin, China’s TikTok platform.

A high school graduate, he worked for the government in the water ministry for 40 years before retiring, according to local media reports. He said in 2022 that he beat his wife because she “talked again” and that “it’s a normal thing”: “In a family, how can there be no explosions and accidents?”

Su Min married Du Zhoucheng “actually to avoid my father’s rule, and to avoid the whole family”.

He was born and raised in Tibet until 1982, when his family moved to Henan, a densely populated province in the valley along the Yellow River. She had just finished high school and found a job in a fertilizer factory, where most of the female workers, including those under the age of 20, already had husbands.

Her marriage was arranged with a matchmaker, which was common at the time. She spent most of her life cooking and taking care of her father and three younger siblings. He said: “I wanted to change my life.”

The two met only twice before the wedding. He wasn’t looking for love, but he hoped that love would grow after they got married.

Su Min never found love. But she had a daughter, and that was one reason why she convinced herself that she had to endure the abuse.

“We are always afraid of being ridiculed and accused when we divorce, so we all choose to be patient, but in reality this kind of patience is not appropriate,” he says. “Then I learned that, in fact, it can have a big impact on the children. The child really doesn’t want you to put up with it, they want you to stand up and give them a supportive home.”

She decided to leave her husband after her daughter got married, but she soon became a grandmother. Her daughter had twins – and work called again. He felt that he needed to help them, even though at this time he was diagnosed with depression.

“I felt that if I didn’t leave, I would get very sick,” he says. He promised his daughter that he would take care of the two boys until they went to kindergarten, and then he left.

The impetus for his escape came in 2019 when he was on TV. They found a video of someone walking around sitting in their car. This was it, he thought to himself. This was his way out.

Even the plague did not stop him. In September 2020, he left his home in Zhengzhou and never looked back as he traveled through 20 Chinese provinces and over 400 cities.

It is an election that has had a profound effect on women in China. To his millions of followers, Su Min offers comfort and hope. “We women are not a man’s wife or mother… Let’s be ourselves!” wrote one follower.

Most of them are women who share their problems. They tell her that they, too, feel they are in troubled marriages – some say her stories have inspired them to leave abusive relationships.

“You are a hero to thousands of women and many are now seeing the possibility of a better life because of you,” reads one of the captions on one of the most viewed videos.

“When I turn 60, I believe I will be as free as you,” another comment says.

A third woman asks: “Auntie Su, can I go with you?” I will pay all fees.

“Can you live the life of your dreams?” Su Min pondered the call. “I want to tell you that no matter how old you are, as long as you work hard, you will find your answer. Like me, even though I am now 60 years old, I found what I wanted.”

He admits that it was not easy and he had to live a simple life with his pension. They thought video blogging could help raise money – little did they know it could go viral.

He talks about what he’s learned over the years and his most recent challenge – finalizing a divorce.

“I still haven’t got my divorce certificate, because the law has a cooling-off period and now we are in that period.”

One of her followers wrote that the money she paid her husband was “worth all the money”, adding: “Now it’s your time to see the world and live a healthy, unrestrained life. Congratulations, Auntie – here’s to a bright and happy future!”

He said it is difficult to end a marriage because “most of our laws in China are to protect the family. Women often do not want divorce because of marital discord”.

At first, he thought that Du Zhoucheng’s character would improve with time and distance, but he said that he would throw “pots and pans” at him on the way back.

She has only called him twice in the past few years – once because her highway access card was linked to a credit card and she wanted him to pay back 81 yuan (£8.91). He says he has not used the card since then.

Undeterred by the divorce delay, Su Min continues to plan more trips and hopes to go abroad one day.

He is worried about overcoming the language barrier, but is confident that his story will resonate around the world – just like it did in China.

“Although women in different countries are different, I want to say that no matter where you are, you must love yourself. Learn to love yourself, because only if you love yourself will the world be filled with sunshine.”

Additional reports from Fan Wang in Singapore