A bitcoin enthusiast recently initiated a digital survival challenge, managing to survive 21 days merely living on 0.21 bitcoin in big cities of China without any help or donations. The event, currently on the 14th day, has caused a quite stir in the bitcoin community in China.

The participant of the challenge is a Chinese girl with the online name of Youbing He who said the move was to preach blockchain and cryptocurrency in the country. The whole process is videoed by her fellows and uploaded to online video platform iQiyi (Netflix-like platform).

The first three days was absolutely desperate for the petite girl, though she has 9,100 Chinese yuan ($1,300) worth bitcoin in hand which could have secured her a quite good life in 21 days if it were in fiat currency.

Considering cryptocurrency and its underlying technology blockchain are still unknown to many people in the country, wherever she went, people with vigilance either never heard about bitcoin or do not accept bitcoin for any exchange.

On the first day of the experiment, He asked 46 persons trying to buy a meal or drink by paying them bitcoin, and the answer was predictable – no one accepted it. To get to McDonald’s, she first walked 7.2 kilometers barely on foot and luckily found an unlocked sharing bike for another 10.8 kilometers. However, no bitcoin accepted there, she had to bear hunger, only having a bit of sausage for free foretaste in a supermarket nearby, 4 packs of ketchup and drank tap water at McDonald’s, and curled up in the bench there for a temporary overnight stay with an empty stomach. She was even fainted and sent to hospital for hypoglycemia at one time.

Things got changed on the fourth day after many bitcoin enthusiasts saw her videos and came to support her. On the 14th day, she could successfully use bitcoin to exchange for two meals and lodging in a budget hotel, though most were exchanged from her supporters.

“Our original intention is to spread positive energy and promote the new technology.” said He. The team said “the blockchain technology, as an innovative technology, is advocated by the state, but it is used by some wrongdoers in pyramid schemes and illegal fundraising. Against this backdrop, we have an obligation to spread the knowledge of blockchain to people around, to educate them about this new technology and telling good cryptos from “air coins”.”

It may be a marketing show but quite courageous and encouraging, especially considering the government’s tough stance towards cryptocurrency and the recent sluggish market.

The story was recently reported by China Daily, in which the state-run media outlet stressed that the current situation of lacking in blockchain knowledge within the country would be gradually changed.

As blockchain has been included into the country’s top-level design, a blockchain lab was included on the list of key labs for year 2018; and the country’s ruling party published a primer on blockchain technology for its officials. Apart from that, more and more blockchain applications are coming into the real world with the efforts from promising blockchain startups and participancy of big names like Alibaba, Baidu and Tencent. On August 10, China’s first blockchain-based e-invoice was unveiled in the country’s Silicon Valley of hardware Shenzhen. Blockchain in the country deserves a brighter future.