Picture a young Chinese woman in a field, dressed in traditional hemp clothing (麻衣), as she picks flowers to make wine, makes a bamboo sofa, cooks up all kinds of dishes.
It may sound hard to believe, but such a person lives in modem China, and her name is Li Ziqi. On Dec 14, 2019, she got Person of the Year in the category of cultural influence (年度文化传播人物).
With millions of fans on Sina Weibo and YouTube, Li has made a name for herself in many videos that show an ancient Chinese way of country life in Sichuan province. "I want to do my part to let more people know about Chinese culture, the vlogger told China.org.cn. "It is the fantastic Chinese culture that makes my videos so popular."
Li seems to be a master of all kinds of skills—cooking, painting, designing and farming. Many videos show her picking seasonal ingredients from her own garden and cooking them up with her wood-fired wok (木锅) .A warm bowl of soup for the winter, a lighter plate of noodles for the summer, Li follows the seasons in her cooking.
"She told the stories of China's culture and that of China," the official Sina Weibo account of China Central Television said. The success of Li Ziqi also comes from her "love for life, for her home and for her culture."
In fact, Li's simple pleasures amaze people living in the big cities. "She leads a life that many people dream of" iFeng.com wrote.
Her handmade lifestyle is a dream for many. "In today's society, many feel stressed, "she told the South China Morning Post." When they watch my videos at the end of a busy day, I want them to relax and experience something nice, to take away some of their anxiety and stress."
