Pakistani vloggers popular on Chinese video platforms to promote cultural exchanges

BEIJING, Jan 28 (APP): Vlogging has risen in popularity in the last few years.

From beauty vloggers and top fashion vloggers, to vlogging stars dedicated to just telling their stories, they are interesting, entertaining and inspiring. Among them, some vloggers from Pakistan are becoming welcome on China’s well-known video platforms.

The China Economic Net (CEN) interviewed some of the most popular Pakistani vloggers on Bilibili, a Chinese video sharing website based in Shanghai gathering most of China’s vloggers. Via making videos, they are acting as a bridge between the two peoples in cyberspace to enhance mutual understanding in a creative way. Younus Ghazali, a young man from Karachi now studying in China’s Yunnan Normal University, has got 85000 subscribers on Bilibili till January 27, 2021. His 64 videos in fluent mandarin covers Pakistani culture, tradition, tourism and food, China-Pakistan relations, China-Pakistan differences, and tour of Chinese scenic spots and historical sites, etc.

Initially in April, 2020, Younus Ghazali made a video to express his gratitude to China’s generous help to Pakistan during COVID-19 pandemic. “At that time the coronavirus pandemic just went viral in Pakistan, and I was so concerned for my people. I was deeply touched that the Chinese government sent medical personnel in batches to Pakistan with urgently-needed relief supplies despite China itself was still in extreme difficulty. Therefore I decided to make a video to thank the kind-hearted and generous Chinese people,” he said.

Muhammad Abubakar, a 27-year-old Pakistani young man from Lahore originally decided to make videos to enhance mutual understanding. “While living in China, I felt the intense love that Chinese have for Pakistan and its people, and as a common man I saw that there is a strong government-to-government relationship, but we have the gap in terms of people-to-people relationship,” he said. His experience of studying Chinese language and culture in China’s Yanshan University makes him more aware of the cultures, views and perspectives of both nations. “The credit of my videos on Bilibili, my popoularity and my fame totally go to the love of Chinese people for Pakistan. My viewers want to explore Pakistan and its culture because they love us,” Muhammad Abubakar said. Chinese viewers like videos related to Pakistan’s national conditions, culture and tradition a lot.

The video that gains the highest views of 2.271 M among Younus Ghazali’s works is about the contrast of commodity prices between Pakistan and China. “My video on commodity prices has been so popular on the platform that I realized that Chinese people are very interested in Pakistan and they want to learn more about the country. Your clothes look handsome and comfortable. It’s great to have such a joyous festival,” MuQ commented the video of Eid ul-Adha. “Wow! I also want to have three cups of milky tea each day! Share more Pakistani food with us please,тАЭ YinbiTupH_V reviewed Younus Ghazali’s video about Pakistani tea. Muhammad Abubakar’s video about his road trip from Khunjerab Pass on China’s border with Pakistan to Gwadar has got as many as 2.182 M views.

The beautiful scenery and unique animals in that region attracted many Chinese viewers. тАЬI will definitely visit Pakistan once the pandemic ends,” a Chinese netizen named Melanieyaya reviewed. “Real foreign friends not only say how much they love China, they love their motherland and want to show their country’s beauty to us as well. In this way the two countries can develop together and achieve mutual benefit,”Э commented by Pigesp. Pakistani vloggers keep a close eye on the development of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

Many of their videos are themed by the latest progress, economic benefits, investment and job opportunities created by this mega project. “While covering an interview for my video about Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a local from that area told me that they owe even very basic necessities that they have today to CPEC, Silk Route and China. They said that because of these routes, they have electricity, gas, good clothes, etc. CPEC is giving positive boost in the availability of everything we use in our daily life,” Muhammad Abubakar said.

Muhammad Abubakar advises Pakistani youth to learn Chinese, make friendships with the people in China, and get exposed to the Chinese culture. “We should promote communication and business-to-business awareness between China and Pakistan. In addition, I am expecting to see a huge boost in tourism between us,” he said. “Our Prime Minister Imran Khan said that we should learn from China’s experience of rapid development,”Э Younus Ghazali mentioned. “I will keep on making videos to let more Chinese people learn about Pakistan. I sincerely invite Chinese people to come to Pakistan to work together with the locals and share Pakistan’s development opportunities,”he said.

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