Source: Xinhua News Agency
Sydney, March 28 (Xinhua) -- In the past 8 years, more than 60 cities, hundreds of kinds of cuisine... Amy, an Australian girl, "tastes" China in her own way, and uses the lens to pass on her understanding and understanding of China to more people.
Amy is a video blogger who can speak fluently Chinese and she laughs and calls herself an "internet celebrity". She opened the "Blondie in China" channel on the video sharing platform Youtu, which has 190,000 followers, and its videos about Chinese food, Chinese travel, study Chinese have hundreds of thousands or even millions of views. Her account "Amy Rice" on Chinese social media such as Weibo and Station B has also attracted the attention of many young people.
On March 16, in Sydney, Australia, in Chinatown, Amy makes her own gourmet Vlog. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Bai Xuefei
Amy's relationship with China began in 2014 – she went to Shanghai as an exchange student to study at Fudan University in Shanghai for a while. China's cultural history and various cuisines suddenly opened the door to her understanding of the country.
"China is an ancient civilization with a history of more than 5,000 years. I was attracted by Chinese cuisine and that kind of profound history. Amy said in an interview with reporters.
Returning to Australia after her studies, Amy is still obsessed with China. In 2017, Amy applied to Tsinghua University to study Chinese and began to record her life in China, a social media platform. As she travels across China, so does her love for China.
In Wuhan, enthusiastic local swimmers encouraged and protected her to experience the feeling of swimming in the Yangtze River; in Beijing, an aunt she never knew gave her a jar filled with hot water to warm her hands that were frozen red in winter; and a taxi master who generously shared tea with her, and ordinary people who waved warmly to her across the road to greet her warmly...
Amy poses with local Miao residents in Yunnan, China, on April 8, 2019. Courtesy of respondents
These warm stories were all in her own YouTube channel. In an episode titled "Why I Love China," Amy says, "I love China because almost every day there are moments like this. I was very touched by the warmth and kindness from strangers, and I was a better me than I was on the day I came to China. ”
With the COVID-19 outbreak, Amy, who was temporarily unable to travel to China to visit her family in Australia, turned her attention to Sydney's large number of Chinese restaurants, from a Chinese travel blogger to a Chinese food blogger.
"These restaurants also need support during the pandemic. I hope that when you see my video, you will try these dishes and find, wow, I didn't expect these dishes to be so delicious. I also hope that more people will be willing to understand China through these cuisines. ”
Hot pot, spicy hot, snail powder... Amy eats all over Sydney's Chinese restaurants, and walking in Chinatown, there are often shopkeepers who greet her warmly. Her fan "Rice" will also follow the video to visit the store. She also pulled together family and friends to experience a variety of cuisines, "developing" them all into Chinese food lovers.
Amy said she was upset at first when someone questioned why she liked China in her channel comments, but decided to work harder to make videos so that more people could see China that was different from what they had imagined.
"Only if you have been there and felt it, you know what China is like now." If you've never been to a place, don't judge it with prejudice. Amy said.
"There is a need for more of this pure, undiminished life experience between people in this world, and we just need to open our minds to experience these experiences, which can completely change your life, or your way of thinking about life," she said. ”
Amy told reporters that after the epidemic eased and Australia opened up international travel, she immediately began to prepare for "returning to China".
"The next destination should be Changchun, where my boyfriend and I are already looking forward to a new life in China." (Reporters: Hao Yalin, Zhang Yue; Editors: Lu Yu, Tang Zhiqiang; Editors: Zhang Yue, Zhang Tianlang)
Produced by the International Department of Xinhua News Agency
Produced by Xinhua News Agency's International Communication Integration Platform
【Responsible Editor: Xie Yan, Liu Zhongling】