thai blogger ai ling: went to china for love and told chinese stories to fans | my chinese memory
2024-10-04
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china news service, beijing, october 4 (zhang dongfang and hao yunhui) taking pictures while walking is the daily routine of thai blogger ai ling. from the poetic water towns in the south of the yangtze river to the vast and spectacular deserts of the northwest, this thai girl born in the 1980s has traveled to most of china with a mobile phone. she originally went to china for love, but found her passion in this land - introducing the real and beautiful china to her fans.
ailing met her chinese husband in england. in 2019, with the support of her family, she decided to move to china, and her story with china began...
in the following years, she opened the "ohbeijing" channel on facebook, and also opened personal accounts on many overseas social platforms such as tik tok and instagram to share her life experience in china, covering traditional culture, travel, food, technology, art, etc., trying to introduce a comprehensive and real china to fans.
talking about the original intention of opening these accounts, ailing said that living in china is very interesting, and china also brings many surprises to her. “i want my fans to experience this, too,” she said.
with this pure desire, she traveled across most of china. she went boating on the qinhuai river in nanjing, the ancient capital of the six dynasties, and experienced the fusion of modern cities and historical charm; she experienced the new technology of tree planting in the vast desert of inner mongolia and saw how china turned the desert into an oasis; she experienced the harmonious coexistence of china's multi-ethnic cultures in urumqi, xinjiang; encounter with the ancient chinese mythological figure "sun wukong" at huaguo mountain in lianyungang; experience intangible cultural heritage puppet show and paper-cutting in zhangzhou, fujian; experience "black technology" such as facial recognition payment at the service trade fair...
she said that chinese cities each have their own characteristics, and chinese people are friendly and enthusiastic, and many foreign tourists feel the same way. she also made many friends in china. "every time i go to a city, i meet new friends. with their help, i introduce these cities to my fans." she said her favorite place is inner mongolia, “because it has endless grasslands and vast deserts.”
drawing: li yongli creative: meng xiangjun gu liping
day after day of on-site visits made ailing's relationship with china deeper and deeper. today, she has gained nearly 300,000 fans on overseas social media platforms. she said that most of her fans are born in the 80s and 90s. through her sharing, many fans expressed that they "want to come to china and see it." "they are not only interested in traveling to china, but also in chinese culture and technology. they also want to know what is happening in china every day."
she said that she was most impressed by china's technological development. as a senior technology fan, she not only shares with her fans new technologies such as face and palm payment, online consultation, high-speed rail travel, driverless cars, etc., she has also established cooperative relationships with many chinese technology companies to share her experience in using technology products. , allowing fans to immerse themselves in the extensive application of chinese scientific and technological achievements. these contents triggered heated discussions among netizens on social platforms. "they really want to come to china to experience driverless taxis, and they also want to experience 'palm payment'."
the lively and interesting content has also become a travel guide for fans. she will thoughtfully share travel strategies with fans who want to travel to china, such as "four days and three nights trip to beijing", etc. she will also provide fans with answers on how to book a hotel, how to buy high-speed rail tickets, how to pay with wechat, etc.
in 2022, ailing was awarded the title of "china tourism promotion envoy" by the china tourism office in bangkok. she is proud of this honor. "i have been telling chinese stories to thai fans for several years. my efforts have been seen and i am very proud."
she said it feels good to turn something she loves into a career. in the future, she wants to try making long videos and continue to tell wonderful chinese stories to her fans.
