Travel Video Content Idea: "Love Lock Fishing"
Updated: Dec 20, 2021
Travel Video Content Idea: "Love Lock Fishing" Catch, Unlock, Photo, Release
CONTENTS:
Post background
Some backstory - How this travel content video idea came about?
Concepts for the content idea - what triggered it?
The content idea: magnet fishing for keys (catch, unlock and release)
Problems - Huangshan problems to investigate
Welcome. Here's the score.
I'm writing this to introduce an idea I had a while back - something I want to try, but would just as much like to see other people try. Correctly executed, it could be great as a video content idea for youtubers, TikTokers or whomever. That’s what this post is - content creators, I’m handing this idea over to you.
All I ask: post back here with reports on how it goes down when you try it out. Or, if you’ve heard a similar idea elsewhere or seen a similar idea acted out before, let us know.
Also, this is part 1. Expect a follow up, likely in the coming weeks (time of delivery will depend on how much "real" work I have this week).
First, some backstory.
Some time last year I realized what these love/heart locks we see on Chinese mountains are all about. Find the post about them here.
Again this month, on a smooth and trouble-free spontaneous daytrip to Qiandaohu, also known as "Thousand Island Lake''. A day ticket to explore the Lake's National Forest Park buys you speed boat access to 3 of the Lake's Islands, and the first one we came to was "Moonlight Isle."
I wasn't expecting it, but here I found a familiar face - that romantic old geezer I learnt about while writing the Love Lock article: YueLao - the one they call "The Old Man in the Moonlight."
Besides a big statue of old YueLao, the island has a giant key, a ton of stone locks lying about the place, and racks to clip your heart-link locks onto.
(Given the mythology, in my understanding, I thought putting a giant key and the love locks here doesn’t make all that much sense, but… meh. I suppose throwing the keys into the water does the same job... I wonder if people do?)
Now, for the inception of the content idea:
Unexpectedly coming across a statue of old YueLao reminded me of the Yellow Mountain love lock legend, which reminded me of this interesting idea I had shortly after writing that.
The idea was triggered by the following: 1) heart lock ritual that post talks about, plus 2) a random thought while researching the path up Xi'an's famous Mount Hua, plus 3) a coincidental Youtube video rabbit hole. I’ll put some detail to each of these so that anyone inclined to execute the idea can pick up from where my thinking left off.
1. The Heart Lock Ritual
As explained in the love/heart lock post, when couples close their locks around the railing bars of the peaks on Yellow Mountain, they are supposed to throw away the keys in a symbolic act of commitment. They throw away the keys, into the deep mountain valley, so that whatever happens, their hearts stay connected - even if they had a mind to go searching for that key to unlock their joined locks, chances are they wont find it. There’s a legend behind the ritual. Have a quick read here.
So I had the above in my head when a few days later, it merged with the following thought:
2. A random thought while researching the hiking trail up Xi'an's famous Mount Hua
Tours to China’s Shaanxi Province, especially to the ancient capital of Xi’an, often include Mt Hua, aka “Hua Shan” - one of China’s most significant mountains. It has some scary slopes and ridges, like the Cang Long Ridge, a narrow slither of path with sheer drops on either side…
Sometimes it gets windy up there.
Sometimes people are wearing hats as they climb Cang Long Ridge, only to be assaulted by a sudden gust that sends their favourite bucket hat sailing down into the gaping mouth of the gulley below…
My thought was, “when I climb Hua Shan, I'm going to bring a pair of binoculars. I’m going to spend some time on that ridge looking for departed headwear. (if I find good binoculars cheap I'll post a purchase link here... ("-IF-"))
So then this new thought and the Heart Lock Ritual thought had a baby in my brain, resulting in the idea: hmm, I should use the binoculars at Yellow Mountain(Huangshan) too. Maybe I can spot some keys. Maybe there’s a way to get down to those keys..
As luck would have it, that night, Youtube delivered:
3. A chance Youtube rabbit hole discovery: I discovered magnet fishing.
Here we have a recipe for a travel objective.
The idea:
Huangshan(Yellow Mountain) has locks on the peaks, and keys in the valleys. We can magnet fish for the keys. Once we get a key, we search for the matching lock. If by some miracle we are able to find the lock, we unlock it.
Of course, this isn’t “catch and take home” fishing - we re-lock that lock, lest we be smitten (“smoten”?) by the awesome powers of a Chinese immortal.
Some practical problems and questions that come to mind when considering the execution of this idea:
Are there even keys or does the Scenic Zone management clean them up periodically? They have been known to clear away locks from time to time, perhaps they do the same for keys.. although the keys may be a little harder to get to…
Where are the major clusters of heart link locks on Yellow Mountain? We can expect most of the keys to be below these clusters.
Is it even necessary to fish, or are there paths that lead to places where keys can be picked up off the ground?
And some more...
Foreigner entry to Yellow Mountain (Huangshan) during the epidemic period?
The best place to fish from?
What type of magnet to use?
What type of fishing equipment?
The best time of year to go?
The best time of day to fish?
Park rangers?
How fellow mountain visitors are likely to react upon witnessing someone “fishing” atop the mountain?
Can I use a drone at Yellow mountain to find the keys?
I'll go on the weekend and check things out. Stay tuned. I’ll be back.
2021.12.20 UPDATE:
Afraid travel restrictions are making it difficult to get there. Gonna have to postpone.
