What if your next job came with a mountain view, no office cubicle and a salary of Rs 8.5 lakh for just one month? It sounds almost too good to be true, but that was the reality for 23-year-old Li Sichen in China.Instead of spending his days behind a desk, Li spent a month on Laojun Mountain in Henan province, watching clouds, filming the changing scenery and documenting life on the mountain. And yes, he was paid 60,000 yuan for it, which works out to roughly Rs 8.5 lakh.The unusual job was announced by the Laojun Mountain Scenic Area on July 8. Called a “cloudscape observer”, the role required the selected candidate to stay on the mountain from July 16 to August 15, capture videos of the clouds and landscape and post daily content online.The job came with accommodation, too. Unsurprisingly, it didn’t take long for people to notice. More than 3,500 applicants reportedly applied within a week, with many calling it a “dream job”.But getting selected wasn’t simply about enjoying a pretty view. Applicants had to submit videos using specific hashtags, and their entries were judged on the quality of their content as well as how viewers responded to it.Li, a vlogger from Henan who goes by @xiaozao, eventually landed the job and became Laojun Mountain’s first “cloudscape observer”. His application video performed particularly well, helping him stand out even among professional photographers.And the job was a lot less leisurely than it sounds.Li’s days began at around 5 am, often before sunrise, and continued until after sunset. He spent hours trying to capture the mountain from different angles and in changing light, filming clouds, mist, mountain views and even light shows for the tourist site’s social media content.During the month, he also picked up new skills, including video editing, colour grading, shooting techniques and drone operation.There was, however, one thing he couldn’t control: the weather.Clouds don’t exactly arrive on schedule. Some days, the conditions simply didn’t produce the scenes Li was hoping to film. And because his application video had played a big part in getting him the job, he felt the pressure to keep producing content that people would actually want to watch.He described dealing with unpredictable weather as “tormenting”. Still, he kept going throughout the assignment. When the month finally came to an end, his reaction was simple: “Time flies.”Li also documented his experience through vlogs, giving viewers a glimpse of what life was really like behind the dreamy job title. The videos showed both the beautiful moments and the less glamorous parts of spending weeks on a mountain.So why did Laojun Mountain create the position when it already had full-time video creators?According to a representative surnamed Zhang, the attraction wanted a different perspective. The cloudscape observer was essentially meant to provide what he called “a third eye” on the mountain. The scenic area has also indicated that it could recruit cloudscape observers again in the future.Located in Luanchuan county in central China’s Henan province, Laojun Mountain is famous for its “sea of clouds”. It is also one of China’s recognised Taoist mountains and has a history stretching back more than 2,000 years.The mountain is closely associated with Lao Tzu, the ancient Chinese philosopher traditionally regarded as the founder of Taoism. Today, it is a 5A-rated tourist attraction, the highest category in China’s tourism rating system.For Li, though, the month was about more than the Rs 8.5 lakh pay cheque. He walked away with a new set of filming skills, a bigger online presence and the rather unusual experience of being paid to chase clouds for a living.
