In the tranquil backwaters of Yunnan lives Dong Meihua – although her followers know her by her public pseudonym Dianxi Xiaoge – has done something remarkable: it has taken the country simplicity of rural China and made it irresistible to thousands and thousands of individuals. In her hands, a village kitchen becomes a stage and the rhythms of farm life develop into a story as charming as any novel. She is one among many rural influencers who’re returning to their roots.
In a digital revolution that’s upending established narratives, China's countryside is emerging as one unlikely epicenter of viral content. Xiaoge is one among 1000’s of influencers using social media to redefine the perception of rural areas.
Preconceptions about rural China turned on their head Hinterland of poverty and stagnationThis recent generation of social media experts is serving up a feast of idyllic bliss to thousands and thousands of city dwellers. It is a narrative shift encouraged by the authorities; The Chinese government has given its blessing to influencers who promote scenic rural images. This contributes to trivializing the divide between urban and rural areas and stoking national pride. It also goes well with Beijing Rural revitalization strategy.
Need for resuscitation
To fully understand a phenomenon, it’s needed to first consider the historical context. For many years, China's rural areas have been synonymous with hardship and backwardness. The Big step forward The crisis of the late Fifties and early Nineteen Sixties – the disastrous attempt by Communist China's revered founder Mao Zedong to industrialize a largely agricultural country – devastated rural communities and led to widespread famine wherein tens of thousands and thousands of individuals died.
The one which follows Cultural Revolutionwherein Mao consolidated his power through a wholesale purge of the country's intelligentsia further disrupted the standard rural lifetime of educated youth sent to the countryside for “re-education”..” These traumatic events left deep scars on the agricultural psyche and economy.
Meanwhile, the “Hukou” systemwhich, because the late Fifties, has linked welfare advantages to an individual's hometown and divided residents into “agricultural” and “non-agricultural” residency statuses, has created a stark divide between urban and rural residents.
The reform era of Mao's successor Deng Xiaoping, from 1978brought recent challenges. While China's cities boomed, rural areas lagged behind.
Millions of rural Chinese have migrated to cities in the hunt for higher opportunities, leaving aging populations and hollowed-out communities. In 1980, 19% of China's population lived in urban areas. This number will probably be reached by 2023 had increased to 66%.
Government policy has since expanded largely to rural areas. The Abolition of agricultural taxes in 2006 marked a vital milestone and demonstrated a renewed commitment to rural prosperity. Recently, President Xi Jinping said: “rural revitalization“has placed rural development at the middle of national policy. The start of the Internet plus agriculture Initiative and investment in rural e-commerce platforms like Taobao Villages are enabling isolated farming communities to attach with urban markets.
Despite these efforts by China The income gap between urban and rural areas remains to be significantwith the common annual per capita disposable income of rural households being 21,691 yuan (about US$3,100), about 40% of that of urban households.
Enter the “new farmer”.
Digitally savvy farmers and rural residents have used nostalgia and authenticity to win over Chinese social media. Stars like Li Ziqi And Dianxi Xiaoge have gained a lot of followers because they portray rural China as each an idyllic escape and a thriving cultural center.
The Chinese term for this social media phenomenon is “New Farmer.” This highlights the rise of rural celebrities using platforms comparable to Douyin and Weibo to document and commercialize their lifestyle. Take Sister Yu: With over 23 million followers, she showcases the country charm of Northeast China by pickling vegetables and cooking hearty meals. Or Peng Chuanming: a farmer in Fujian whose videos about making traditional teas and restoring his home have captivated thousands and thousands.
Since 2016, these platforms have been transforming rural life into digital gold. What began as a straightforward documentary has grown right into a phenomenon that draws huge audiences, driven not only by nostalgia but additionally by economic necessity. China's economic downturn after COVID-19, characterised by rising youth unemployment and dwindling urban opportunities have led some to hunt rural livelihoods.
In China's megacities, where the air is stuffed with pollution and opportunity, there’s clearly a hunger for something real – something that isn't shrink-wrapped or labeled with a QR code. And rural influencers are presenting snippets of a life that many thought had been lost to China's rapid development.
Compared to their urban counterparts, rural influencers are carving out a novel area of interest in China's vast social media landscape. Although fashion bloggers, gaming streamers and lifestyle gurus dominate platforms like Weibo and Douyin, China's TikTok, rural content creators tap into a special cultural romance and a eager for reference to nature. In addition, their content advantages from the increasing popularity of short video platforms comparable to: Kuaishou And Pinduoduoexpanding their reach to a large demographic, from nostalgic retirees to environmentally conscious millennials.
But this isn't just digital escapism for the masses. Tourism is is booming in once-forgotten villages. Traditional crafts find recent markets. In 2020 alone Taobao Villages reported a whopping 1.2 trillion yuan (around $169.36 billion) in sales.
The Chinese government, never one to miss a PR opportunity, saw potential. Rural revitalization is now the watchword amongst government officials. It's a win-win situation: the villagers profit from economic opportunities and the state consolidates its fame as a champion of traditional values. Government officials have Leveraged platforms like X to showcase China's rural revitalization efforts to a global audience.
Authenticity or Illusion?
As with all algorithms, there’s a catch with the New Farmer movement. The more popular rural influencers develop into, the greater the pressure on them to indicate “authenticity”. Or to place it one other way: the more real it looks, the less real it could be.
It raises one other query: Who really advantages? Are we witnessing a strengthening of rural areas or a commercialization of rural life for urban consumption? As corporate sponsors and government initiatives pile up, the road between real representation and curated fantasy is blurring.
Local governments have begun to acknowledge the economic potential Providing subsidies to rural content creatorsThis results in skepticism as as to if this content is really grassroots content or part of a bigger, government-led campaign to wash up the image of rural areas.
But despite all of the possible pitfalls, the brand new farming trend is a possibility to challenge the city-centric narrative that has dominated China's development story for many years and to reconsider whether progress all the time means high-rises and highways, or whether there’s value in preserving ways of life , which has kept communities alive for hundreds of years.
More importantly, it’ll narrow the cultural gap that has long separated China's rural and concrete populations. In a rustic where your hukou can determine your fate, these viral videos advance understanding in a way no government program ever could.
image credit : theconversation.com