China's top vlogger Li Ziqi returns after 3 years, new videos gain massive appeal

Li Ziqi, the famous Chinese vlogger known for her poetic portrayal of rural life, made a highly anticipated return on Tuesday afternoon, posting two new videos online after more than three years of silence. Her comeback has triggered a widespread sensation across multiple platforms.

The videos were shared not only on Sina Weibo, China's X-like social media platform, but also on Douyin, YouTube, and Xiaohongshu, quickly going viral. Multiple related topics soon climbed the trending charts, captivating millions online.

One of her latest videos themed on China's intangible cultural heritage lacquerware, showing Li's craft making a purple lacquer closet from scratch, in which the unique aesthetics and craftsmanship of Chinese lacquerware are fully displayed. The other video shows how Li built her own cloakroom from a woodshed.

The lacquerware video has gained 120 million views with over 1.8 million interactions on Weibo by the time of writing. The other one has garnered over 30 million views.

Li now has over 26 million followers on Weibo.

Netizens expressed their excitement and support for Li's return online.

"Three years! It's been three years since you last updated! Do you know how I've survived these three years? You're finally back! I'm so excited!" commented one Weibo user. "Liziqi is THE only Youtuber/Youtube channel that was able to have its subscribers increased from 14m to 20m in three years with 0 contents uploaded. You immediately know people loving her so sooo much. She's the GOAT of lifestyle youtuber!" said a fan on YouTube.

A source close to Li told the Paper that during her hiatus, Li visited many intangible cultural heritage inheritors. She talked to them, studied their skills and researched folk culture, gaining insight into the stories and historical context behind those crafts and the materials used.

"For Li, taking a break is a form of self-cultivation," the Paper reported citing the source.

Poetic portrayal of rural life

Li, born in 1990 in southwest China's Sichuan Province, started making short videos on cooking in 2015.

She gained attention in 2016 with a viral video showcasing her hand-made Lanzhou noodles. Li began to post short videos on Weibo and opened an account on YouTube, creating videos recording her daily life.

In her videos, Li makes everything from scratch with her own hands, whether it's food, clothing,  furniture or handicrafts such as Sichuan embroidery or Shu Xiu, a style of embroidery folk art native to Sichuan and Chongqing.

Li's appeal was rooted in her poetic portrayal of rural life, featuring Chinese cultural characteristics and aesthetics. Her slow-paced, fairytale-like rural life, traditional cooking techniques and cultural practices have attracted a large number of followers both locally and abroad.

In 2020, Li set a Guinness World Record for having the most subscribers on a Chinese-language YouTube channel, with a total of 11.4 million followers at that time. The number has now surpassed 20 million.

However, Li's career was interrupted in July 2021 after a legal dispute with her agent Hangzhou Weinian Brand Management Co., Ltd. While the exact reasons behind the dispute remain unclear, some speculated that Li's reluctance to overly commercialize her work was a reason, while others suggested equity-related issues were a factor.

A settlement was reached by the end of 2022, though Li did not resume updating videos, but occasionally appeared on the internet.

On Wednesday morning, news circulated on Weibo citing Weinian that the legal dispute between the company and Li had been completely settled.

Talking about why Li is so popular, Professor Li Jinzhao at Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU) told CGTN that the anxiety people share towards an over-modernized world and the urge to live a quiet and nature-oriented life can be the reason.

Dong Yikun at BFSU added that what Li shows in her videos does not represent how the majority of rural residents live their lives, but provides an interesting and creative perspective to look at trivial and ordinary living styles in rural China. "The belief of life and the positive attitudes towards family bond is the heritage of rural culture," she said.

"She is just enjoying what she does," Professor Li said. "She is romanticizing it, but that life is what we want to see."