Social media shows netizens a different side of life

On short-video platforms, such as Douyin and Kuaishou, there are a number of foreign bloggers who have married Chinese nationals.

By sharing their daily lives in cross-cultural marriages, they provide people around the world with a glimpse of China from their own unique perspective.

Felice, a young woman from Tanzania who has more than 3 million followers on Douyin, is praised by Chinese netizens as the "most filial daughter-in-law on the internet".

Her husband, Du Bin, is a farmer in the south of Shaanxi province. They met when he went to work in Tanzania several years ago.

Later, Felice came to Shaanxi, in Northwest China, with Du. Despite the cultural and climatic differences between the two countries, and the different cuisines, Felice quickly integrated into local life and made friends with her neighbors.

Her life used to be difficult because she lives in the deep mountains with her husband. However, things changed after she started sharing her life via social media in August last year.

Her father-in-law is deaf and mute. In order to communicate with him, Felice learned both Mandarin and sign language, which has touched the senior deeply. He always treats Felice as if she were his own daughter.

Felice always insists on undertaking the most arduous tasks and preparing meals for the family.

Using sign language, her father-in-law said, "I never dreamed that in my later years I would have such a good daughter-in-law from overseas who is so filial to me."

In a video, Felice told her followers: "Thank you for liking me and supporting me so I can earn money through this video-sharing platform. Now, I have earned enough money to buy tickets for a visit to my hometown, so I can see my 90-year-old father who is sick in the hospital."

Another blogger, Rose, a Ugandan national who lives in Lishui in the eastern province of Zhejiang, has nearly 14 million followers.

During her eight years in China, she has not only mastered the language, but also learned to cook local food from scratch. She has become a "master chef ", who teaches netizens how to cook Chinese cuisine.

On her video account, she is a dedicated wife and mother at home, while outside, she not only gets along well with her neighbors but has also become a popular internet celebrity, earning millions of yuan through her short videos. She has even boosted the local economy through her promotion of local products.

Her achievements have seen netizens praise Rose as the "African Li Ziqi", a reference to a young woman who was once China's most popular blogger thanks to her posts about taking care of her farm and cooking local dishes. In July, Rose and her husband, Wu Jianyun, returned to Kampala, Uganda's capital, to visit her family. During the trip, the couple not only shared their experiences on social media, but they were also followed by television crews from Zhejiang who documented their journey.

One video showed Rose discussing her mother's poor health and her desire to take the senior for a medical checkup. Her husband immediately suggested finding the best hospital in Uganda, but Rose stated that the best facility in the capital is one that was funded and built by China. They recorded the entire checkup process at the hospital.

Since Rose missed Chinese cuisine in her hometown, she prepared a feast of Zhejiang dishes to share with her family.

While exploring the local markets, she noticed that many of the items were made in China. She also copied the Zhejiang style of kitchen and built a stove for her parents.

As Mid-Autumn Festival approached, the family shared traditional Chinese mooncakes with their friends in Uganda, thus spreading Chinese culture.

These families have integrated Chinese and African friendships, cultural exchanges and economic collaboration in many aspects of their daily lives.

Comments from internet users vary: some viewers suspect that the videos are staged, while others believe that sharing them will improve understanding between the Chinese and people in Africa.

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