Chinese video creator Li Ziqi shares her thoughts on how everyday life, traditional crafts and food can help Chinese culture cross borders.
Li Ziqi, one of China’s best-known video creators, joked about being called a “veteran” of short videos at the 2026 Beijing Culture Forum on Sep. 23rd.
“Recently, I was on a business trip, and a friend introduced me as ‘the veteran of our short-video industry, Li Ziqi’. I thought, I’m still young. How did I suddenly become associated with the word ‘veteran’?” she said, drawing laughter from the audience.
Li Ziqi was invited to speak at the forum in Beijing, where she shared her thoughts on how traditional culture can grow from everyday life and reach audiences around the world in the age of the internet.
She began making food-related short videos in 2015. Eleven years on, she said she remains struck by the speed of the internet industry, where technology changes quickly, audiences shift quickly, and information travels quickly.
However, she said cultural heritage cannot be passed on through any single force. Government guidance, the responsibilities of media and online platforms, the work of countless creators, and even a simple “like” from an internet user can all play a part in bringing traditional culture to a wider audience.
Culture in Everyday Life
Her own videos, which feature Chinese food, crafts and rural life, have attracted audiences overseas.
Talking about cross-cultural communication, Li said people do not necessarily have to understand where a culture comes from before they can connect with it.
“Maybe people like a piece of video that crosses language and distance not because they understand at first what country the culture comes from,” she said. “Instead, they first feel, through a meal, a home and a pair of hands working carefully, a longing for a peaceful life, a closeness to the land and a bond with family.”
Li also spoke about where culture can be found in modern life.
“Culture is not only behind the glass of a museum. It is in the everyday lives of all of us,” she said. “It is culture, but it is also the warmth of ordinary life.”
She added: “As long as people are here, traditional skills will remain. As long as the skills remain, culture will remain. And as long as culture remains, the spirit of a nation will not be lost.”
For Li, the internet age is also an age of cultural preservation and communication. It belongs to young people, she said, but it also belongs to everyone who takes everyday life seriously.
Additional reporting by Lv Shaowei.
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