Ugandan vlogger wins followers by showcasing rural life in China

WHEN Adikin Rose Mary, of Uganda, (pictured), married a Chinese man and settled in a Chinese village eight years ago, everything seemed strange to her.

Now, she is no different from the local wives, speaking fluent Mandarin and cooking authentic Chinese dishes. Her social media videos recording her daily life have become an internet hit.

Her videos are mostly about her cooking for her husband and son in Yecun Village, in Lishui city, in east China’s Zhejiang Province.

She often shows the whole cooking process, from the field to the table, and cooks all kinds of dishes, from hotpot and Peking duck to soup dumplings.

In her videos, she interacts with her family and neighbours in Mandarin with a local accent.

The mouth-watering dishes, the countryside sceneries, the lifestyle, and the uniqueness of Mary’s identity have made her videos a hit. Since July last year, when she posted her first video, she has won 11 million followers on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok.

“I just wanted to give it a try at first. I did not expect that I could win so many followers!” she said.

Mary, 29, was born and grew up in rural Uganda. Eight years ago, she contacted a Chinese man, Wu Jianyun, online after Jianyun’s cousin, who was working in Uganda, introduced them.

After getting to know each other, she made a courageous decision – to travel to China. Later, Mary and Jianyun fell in love and decided to marry and start a family in Jianyun’s home town, Yecun Village.

In the beginning, life was not easy for her. She could not speak Mandarin well, and her husband had to work in the city to earn money. Gradually, she became fluent in the language and made friends.

Jianyun once worked as a chef, so Mary learnt her cooking skills from him. Inspired by China’s booming short video market, she decided to

share her life and cooking online.

Mary’s videos have been drawing floods of positive feedback from internet users.

“It seems as if Rose is a local woman. From her videos, we enjoy the beauty of life, appreciate the delicacies, and learn how to cook,” said one.

At present, she has a 5-person team for the filming, and her husband has returned home to join her in making short videos. During the past eight years, Mary has also witnessed changes in China’s countryside.

“In the beginning, the roads and the villagers’ houses were not as good as nowadays.

“Most men worked in cities away from home, but the development of rural areas offered chances for young people to work near home.”

In recent years, in line with China’s rural vitalisation strategy, Lishui has been developing countryside tourism and rural industries to help farmers.