Chinese influencer Li Ziqi returns, sparking renewed interest in traditional cultural practices

Li Ziqi (李子柒), often hailed as the once and future queen of lifestyle vlogging has returned to content creation after she stopped posting in July 2021, over three years ago. Her return has been hotly anticipated since she resolved her legal dispute with her agent Weinian in late 2022. However, she did not make another public appearance besides a guest appearance as the official ambassador for the Chinese Farmers’ Harvest Festival, hosted by the China Association of Young Rural Entrepreneurial Leaders.

 

But her latest video about lacquered furniture marks the return of Li Ziqi the content creator. Indeed, the “紫漆” (ziqi, lit. purple lacquer) she uses, shares the same sound as her name, and the character “柒” in her name is a variant of “漆”, meaning lacquer. The wardrobe (衣柜, yi gui) she makes, some netizens deduce, is a pun for (已归, yi gui, has returned).

 

As internet culture continues to evolve, it seems everything old is new again. Huanong Brothers, the content creator known for breeding bamboo rats has also returned after moving to other businesses after Covid made wildlife breeding untenable for a while. Pre-pandemic nostalgia aside, what does the return of these top content creators, especially Li Ziqi, mean for content marketing and influencers in general?

 

Intangible Cultural Heritage

 

Building on the rustic and traditional aesthetic and lifestyle Li has become known for, her second venture as a top vlogger has helped redouble her emphasis on Intangible Cultural Heritages (ICH). ICH refers to living traditions, practices, and knowledge passed down through generations, such as rituals, festivals, performing arts, and craftsmanship. Recognised by UNESCO, it embodies cultural identity and diversity, evolving with communities over time. ICH is immensely popular in China as people find huge interest in traditional Chinese culture, regional cultures and ethnic minority cultures.

 

 

Li’s latest video shows her practising the Chinese ICH lacquer craft, from harvest lacquer to finished furniture. The video reached 100 million views in five hours on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like platform, earning her 900,000 new followers. Countless 'hot searches' were born, including “Li Ziqi returns” (#李子柒回归#) which topped the list with 360 million views. On Douyin, the Chinese sister app of TikTok, it earned over 18 million likes, while Li grew her following to 50 million, up five million within three days. Global viewers also expressed welcome on her return.

 

Beyond internet celebrityhood, Li is also establishing herself as an advocate of ICH. On 14 November, Li attended the opening of Baidu Baike (Baidu’s wiki encyclopaedia) AI ICH museum in Chengdu, Sichuan, as an honorary director. It was reported that Li has been travelling the country to meet with inheritors of ICH. She also visited Dongyuan in Ruian, Zhejiang and became an ambassador for the local wooden movable type of ICH on 16 November.

 

Content is king?

 

Many things have changed during Li’s absence. Although her eponymous brand, best known for its luosifen snail noodle soup, remains popular, monetisation for influencers has shifted so much that some pundits predict she’ll be livestreaming for sale events before long.

 

 

However, others believe that the dedication and respect she shows for each of the arts and crafts in her video, as well as the production value is what separates her from those who use culture to sell, calling her “a more perfect Dong Yuhui”. Dong has been subject to several controversies due to haphazard research-fuelled false information. Indeed, with her videos usually taking months to create, it is hard to imagine her regularly appearing on a livestream channel.

 

Meanwhile, Douyin benefited the most among all the platforms Li posted her comeback special video to. The likes and new following beat Bilibili and Weibo by a large margin. Douyin had already invested in her MCN (multi-channel network) three years ago and created a special landing page for the return of Li Ziqi. Douyin, the home of Dong Yuhui and “Crazy” Little Brother Yang, is eager to find its next star.

 

How the immense traffic Li brings will be monetised, on the other hand, is not yet known. With no concrete plans for livestreams and a focus on her eponymous brand, whether Li will bring the same kind of value to Douyin as a platform remains to be seen. But as of now, the popularity of Li’s videos is likely to bring more interest to other IHC accounts and merchants. Indeed, Douyin has seen IHC-centric merchants grow 215% in the last year and group orders grew 356%. Adding to that, there is also the likelihood of her further leveraging her popularity abroad to “go overseas” (出海).