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A young man from Munich, Germany has attracted nearly two million followers on a major video-sharing platform in China by sharing his personal experiences of Chinese food and ethnic culture.
The 24-year-old Robert Adolf is a vlogger commonly known as "德国的包子" (Germany's steamed stuffed bun) on Kuaishou.
His interest in China's history and culture started when he was a child. After adulthood, he came to live and work in China starting from 2017. Since then, he has left his footprints in many places in China, including some remote rural areas.
During his trips around China, Adolf is impressed most by China's various ethnic cultures and is now shooting documentaries about China's 56 ethnic groups that he hopes will capture the traditional customs and culture of the country's various ethnic groups.
In an interview with China Daily, Adolf shared his experiences and thoughts on Chinese culture.
Q: What was your previous impression of China before coming here? And how do you feel now?
Adolf: My impression of China was mainly shaped by documentaries, movies, books and cartoons I watched or read when I was younger. I was first fascinated by Chinese culture when I watched the Disney animation Mulan as a child. The costumes were exotic and the martial arts were incredible. So I always had an image of a mysterious country with a rich history.
With the huge economic and infrastructural improvements over the last few decades in China, quite a lot of cities are now super modern and huge. Nevertheless, they are still rich in history and a lot of culture can be found, especially in the countryside.
Germany also has some provinces but they belong to the same minority, so their culture has just a little difference. It's simply magical, and to think there are 56 ethnic groups in the country. I am stunned by the diversity in costumes, dialects, food and celebrations among the different ethnic villages.
Q: What stories do you tell to show China and Chinese culture in the documentaries about ethnic groups in China? How is it going? Can you give us some details in advance?
Adolf: The Chinese ethnic culture and tradition is so rich and I couldn't help but try and record them all. My main focus is to film the authentic life of China's ethnic groups.
There is a lot of interesting stuff coming up in the documentaries. Besides all the unique handicrafts of the different ethnic groups, I also had a lot of touching personal encounters.
When filming the Sui people I first contacted two aunties who are filming short videos on Douyin to learn the traditional craft of horse hair embroidery (马尾绣). Once I arrived, they treated me like their own son and I spent more time than anticipated there and celebrated the New Year of the Sui people which lasts a total of over 50 days. The two aunties became my Sui godmothers.
And I once attended a once-in-13-years Miao festival of Guzang, the Miao new year, with over 5,000 attendees in a tiny mountain village. I have never heard of a festival which isn't celebrated yearly so I was very surprised and excited to hear about it. It is celebrated for a total of 13 days and on the last day over 4,000 Miao people danced around the drum all dressed in traditional festive clothing (me included).
I also can't forget walking one hour over rice terraces to a remote village which isn't accessible via road in Rongjiang county, Guizhou province.
Overall, the people I met are all down-to-earth and sincere, and I feel warmth around them.
Q: What words best describe Chinese culture? From your perspective, what are some similarities and differences between Chinese and German culture?
Adolf: Rich and diverse.
In my opinion Chinese and Germans have a lot alike and are both very hard-working people. Furthermore both cultures value family highly. Of course there are many differences as well, because of the different history of both countries.
Q: Have you indulged in some special food you'd like to share with your friends in Germany? Have you learned some Chinese habits after living in China?
Adolf: Chinese cuisine is as big and diverse as the country itself so it's hard to pinpoint only one food. If I had to choose I would say hotpot or jianbing.
The most I've learned in China is building interpersonal and business relationships during dinner over a bottle of baijiu.
About the interviewee
Robert Adolf, 24, is a vlogger from Munich, Germany. Having developed an interest in Chinese culture during his childhood, he learned Chinese and came to live and work in China in 2017.
Stunned by the rich and diverse culture of China's 56 ethnic groups, he began sharing videos of his personal experiences of Chinese food and ethnic culture online, and attracted about 2 million followers.
In July, he and his Chinese friends launched a documentary filming project, aiming to record the authentic life of China's 56 ethnic groups. So far, they have visited people of Tujia, Miao, Dong, Sui, Buyi, Yao and other ethnic groups inhabiting in China's Hubei province, Guizhou province and Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.
Afterward, they plan to move on to Hainan and Yunnan provinces to record the myriad ethnic groups based there.
Reporters: Yang Jun, Wang Jin and Zhang Wenfang
Editors: Shan Juan and Wang Jianfen
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