How did Chinese YouTube star Li Ziqi break a Guinness World Record? Meet the ‘kimchi’ influencer whose quaint foodie and rural culture videos touched city-dwelling millennials in quarantine
- The Chinese celebrity vlogger recently broke a Guinness World Record with 14.2 million subscribers
- Besides recently being embroiled in the ‘kimchi wars’ with South Korea’s Hamzy, netizens have also debated her videos’ authenticity
Chinese YouTube celebrity Li Ziqi was recently crowned by Guinness World Records for having the “most subscribers for a Chinese language channel on YouTube”, with some 14.2 million followers at the time of writing.
Li has been praised for transcending language and culture, as well as inspiring millions worldwide as an icon of seclusion and self-sufficiency – even before quarantine was a thing.
Here are five things you might not know about the famous Chinese influencer.
She was born in a far-flung village
Born in Mianyang, the second largest prefecture-level city of Sichuan province, Li Ziqi’s real name is actually Li Jiajia. After her parents separated, she lived with her father, who passed away when she was just six years old. Her grandparents decided to take care of her after discovering that her stepmother mistreated her. Under her grandparents’ care in the countryside, Li grew up making bamboo crafts and cooking authentic Chinese meals.
Li’s grandfather passed away when she was in fifth grade, leaving her grandmother as her sole guardian. When Li turned 14 years old in 2004, she dropped out of school to travel to the city in search of work.
She used to be a DJ
