China News Service, Chengdu, September 7th, title: Taiwanese food bloggers in the "Gourmet City": Actively seek change, integrate into the mainland, and love Chengdu in a different way
China News Service reporter Wang Peng
The fire is wide, the chicken nuggets are deep-fried until golden, and then garlic slices, millet pepper, pepper, white sugar and ginger shreds are stir-fried... Recently, in a Sichuan restaurant named "National Land·Six Doors" in Chengdu, Taiwan The young He Haoyu is learning how to cook Sichuan cuisine.
In front of the camera, he sweated profusely and tasted the freshly cooked young ginger chicken and introduced its spicy taste.
He Haoyu tasted food in Chengdu.
Photo courtesy of the interviewee
He Haoyu, 41, is from Taipei.
In 2018, this "naturally playful" young man came to Chengdu. He originally wanted to be in the tourism industry, but because of the new crown epidemic, he became a well-known food blogger "Tony" in the Chengdu food circle.
His story is also the epitome of many Taiwanese youths actively seeking change, adapting and integrating into the mainland.
"I fell in love with Chengdu at first sight." Putting down his chopsticks, He Haoyu wiped the bead of sweat from his forehead and told a reporter from China News about his fate with Chengdu.
It was May 2018. He took a Taiwanese tourist group to Tibet and stopped in Chengdu on the way. He was immediately attracted, "There are endless food and beautiful scenery. Chengdu people are also very tolerant. I decided Come here to develop."
Six months later, He Haoyu left Taipei with a one-way ticket in hand.
Prior to this, he had mailed his luggage to Chengdu, but he did not expect to coincide with the explosion of logistics in China's "Double Eleven" in 2018.
"I arrived in Chengdu half a month before my luggage arrived." He Haoyu laughed when he talked about the embarrassment, but this also gave him a new understanding of the development of the mainland's e-commerce industry.
He Haoyu tasted food in Chengdu.
Photo courtesy of the interviewee
Before coming to Chengdu, He Haoyu had made plans to develop a tourist route from Taiwan to Sichuan, so he was preparing for this throughout 2019.
Making local friends, connecting with major travel agencies, researching the tourism market... When he was about to do a big fight in 2020, the new crown epidemic suddenly broke out.
"Many Taiwanese young people come to the mainland and they have basically made plans, but the plans cannot keep up with the changes." In He Haoyu's view, his encounter with the epidemic was only accidental, and the bigger one must be: the rapid development of the mainland market, especially the new ones that are integrated with the Internet. Things and new industries are emerging in endlessly.
"Under such circumstances, Taiwanese youths must take the initiative to seek change in order to adapt to the mainland, and they must have a vision for development."
He Haoyu's initiative to change starts with his hobby-eating, drinking and having fun.
In Chengdu temporarily unable to engage in the original tourism industry, he decided to "change the way" and set his sights on Chengdu cuisine, such as Sichuan cuisine, spicy hot pot, and various snacks hidden in the depths of the alley and courtyard. This "Gourmet Capital of the World" has inexhaustible shooting materials.
"In fact, when I first came to Chengdu, I filmed some'novelties' that are not available in Taiwan, such as express delivery stations and shared bicycles, but I have very few followers." He Haoyu later analyzed that his video was too long, while short videos were more popular in mainland China.
After focusing on food videos, he began to produce short video programs with a shorter duration and more information, and released them on Douyin, thus starting a "new business".
He Haoyu is photographing Sichuan cuisine.
Photo by Wang Peng
Over the past year or so, the short video account of "follow Tony on a trip" has gradually become familiar to the Chengdu food circle.
This tall, handsome-faced Taiwanese youth ate Sichuan food and talked freely in the video, and his knowledge of Chengdu cuisine became more and more profound.
"Before I only knew Sichuan food was spicy, but in Chengdu, I knew there were Sichuan dishes that were not spicy. Each ingredient has a special story and a unique culture." He Haoyu said with a smile that he has been a food blogger for one and a half years and he has learned to cook Sichuan food. Enough to go back to Taipei to open an authentic Sichuan restaurant.
Unlike the reporter's imagination, He Haoyu never emphasized his identity as a Taiwanese in his daily work, only because he did not want to be specially taken care of, "developing like a mainland video blogger, it means that I have truly integrated into this place." For more than a year, As a food blogger, he has been constantly experiencing the enthusiasm of Chengdu cuisine and the taste of life on the mainland.
"Excited, lonely, lost, but also deeply in love." He Haoyu said, from coming to Chengdu "single-handedly", and now making many local friends, he feels Chengdu's acceptance of him, and also feels the rapid changes in the mainland. The development and changes of the city have already planned to settle in Chengdu in the future.
How much does he love this city?
Some time ago, he deliberately modified his short video account name-"Tony loves Chengdu".
(over)