The Story of a Rural Vlogger

Young rural residents are leveraging short video and live streaming platforms to boost sales of farm produce as China is fighting the final part of the battle against poverty.

- QIAN YUMENG

DURING his morning commute, Liu Jianguo, a whitecollar worker in Beijing, browsed through some short videos on his smartphone. One of the videos features a rural girl living some 2,500 kilometers away in central China’s Hunan Province. Born in the 1990s, Xinbao connects Liu with the bucolic view and specialties in her mountainous village via a live streaming platform Douyin Huoshan, widely known in China as Huoshan.

Liu leaned against the subway door and typed, “Do you still have the fermented beancurd I bought last time? I want to buy some more for my colleagues, and please deliver it as early as possible.”

“No problem, you are my valued customer,” Xinbao replied. The two chatted via the ByteDance-backed platform, whose core user base mostly hails from third- and fourth-tier cities in China like Xinbao.

Today, as millions of Chinese people are being connected by short video and live-streaming apps, the culture and economy of urban and rural areas are becoming more closely entwined. The way of building trust between remote buyers and sellers on these platforms is spawning an upending revolution on China’s e-commerce arena.

Recording Daily Life

Eight months ago, Xinbao bought herself a new dress and officially launched her vlog, looking her best. Her aim was to record the rural life around her via short videos, and give urban dwellers a window into her world.

Like many rural youth, Xinbao once went to school in the city and worked in Guangdong Province, but now she prefers her current status as a vlogger. “The virtual world on the Huoshan platform is a place where ordinary people can freely communicate. It is quite tolerant and gentle, and there are a lot of topics to talk about,” said Xinbao.