(East-West Question) Gao Yousi: Why do we all have to be brave as a bridge for cross-cultural communication?
China News Agency, Beijing, March 18th: Gao Yousi: Why do we all have to be brave as a bridge for cross-cultural exchanges?
China News Agency reporter Li Hanxue
Nearly a hundred years ago, a group of Western journalists with curiosity and courage introduced the Chinese Communist Party and Red China to the world, which was unknown to the outside world.
In today's China, "Internet celebrities" from all over the world, with their own lenses and perspectives, have built a bridge between China and overseas.
Raz Galor is one of the most notable ones.
When Xinjiang experienced the "cotton turmoil" last year, his team specially went to Xinjiang to visit the lives of ordinary Xinjiang people, including cotton farmers, and shared what they saw and heard with Chinese and foreign audiences, but they were also maliciously attacked by some Western media.
How do you view these attacks?
Why did you choose such a theme?
In his eyes, where has the mutual understanding between China and the world come?
China News Agency "East and West Questions" recently exclusively interviewed Gao Yousi, president and co-founder of the Crooked Nut Research Association, to discuss the above topics.
The following is a summary of the interview transcript:
China News Service reporter: Why do you want to observe China?
Gao Yousi:
I grew up in a multicultural environment and received three different cultural education systems: Israeli education, Hebrew and Jewish culture; international education, English and Western-style knowledge systems; and education in China, Chinese and Chinese culture.
This made me see differences and even prejudices between different education systems.
Most of my high school classmates (Gao Yousi High School attended an international school in Hong Kong, China) chose to study in universities in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and other countries.
And my father has always been optimistic about China and was interested in China. Under his influence and encouragement, I came to the mainland to study at university.
I found that the Chinese economic model, political system, and way of thinking that I had known before were not quite the same as the actual situation.
This made me very curious and a little disappointed with the previous education system: China has such a long history, why is China not mentioned in the past education?
Why not go to really understand China?
Twenty years ago, many Chinese students may choose to study in the United States to learn Western knowledge systems and technological innovations.
In today's era, in order to better understand the future development trend, it is necessary to study in China.
I believe that in another 10 years, many people will pay more attention to China, whether it is personal development opportunities, technological level or economic model.
I consider myself an early "adventurer".
The essence of what I do is cultural exchange.
If I study and live in another country, I will definitely try to understand that country.
Being able to shoot videos in China is a kind of fate for me.
The first thing anyone who goes abroad should do is to respect, understand and empathize with the local people, so as to be a good cross-cultural communicator.
Gao Yousi experiences cotton planting in Xinjiang.
Image source: Screenshot of the video of the Crooked Nut Research Association
China News Agency reporter: In the short videos showing the country's customs, food, scenery, etc. are relatively common themes. When you and your team went to the local area to shoot when Hong Kong was going through the "revision turmoil" and Xinjiang experienced the "cotton turmoil", why did you choose to shoot such videos?
Gao Yousi:
My team and I hope to be a two-way bridge, so that the world can better understand China, and at the same time, let China understand the world better.
Whether you go to Hong Kong, Wuhan, Xinjiang or other places, it is the same goal.
Specific to each video, there is a different story behind it.
I spent 5 years of my youth in Hong Kong and felt like a "local".
When I saw some chaos in Hong Kong, I was very flustered and worried.
I went to shoot the video of Hong Kong alone, and only brought a camera. First, I wanted to see my friends, and second, I wanted to know why Hong Kong is so chaotic.
After the series of videos were released, most of the reactions from overseas viewers were that they felt sorry for the city, but some people attacked that I went with a political stance and labeled me, but I don't regret it.
Gao Yousi filming video at Hong Kong International Airport in China.
Image source: Screenshot of the video of the Crooked Nut Research Association
Going to Xinjiang is not the same as Hong Kong.
During the "cotton turmoil" in Xinjiang last March, I received more than 500 private messages, of which more than 200 were private messages from fans of overseas platforms, who wanted me to visit Xinjiang.
I have always wanted to go to Xinjiang myself. Two good friends from Xinjiang have been inviting me to play. They are completely different from the people in Xinjiang that some people say. They have overseas study backgrounds and entrepreneurial experience. They are also like Beijing and Shenzhen. city worked.
After receiving the private message, I started to research my itinerary to Xinjiang.
I thought that going to Xinjiang might require special documents or complicated procedures, but my Xinjiang friend said that I only need to book an air ticket.
"Is this ok?" "This is ok." This also broke a stereotype I had about Xinjiang.
It is a pleasure to shoot videos in Xinjiang.
Like other places in Xinjiang, everyone has jobs, lives, children, and schools.
It was lovely to have 3 friends who were randomly interviewed on the road and willing to show me around their homes.
I am very grateful to them, and I still have their WeChat.
It's brave, after all it's a strange thing for a strange foreigner to come to your house.
Gao Yousi took a group photo with the Xinjiang family.
Image source: Screenshot of the video of the Crooked Nut Research Association
China News Agency reporter: What is the difference between your trip to Xinjiang and your imagination?
Gao Yousi:
There are many interesting places.
For example, it takes 8 hours to fly from Beijing to Xinjiang, like an international flight.
I don't think any country in the world can experience a sense of national identity within an 8-hour flight distance. China is truly a magical country.
With so many people, it is not easy to unify.
After arriving in Xinjiang, I found that Xinjiang people are very friendly.
I did not expect such a large-scale mechanized operation in cotton production before, but I cannot say that I was "shocked" because I still have some understanding of the development of China's agriculture and rural areas.
What's more surprising is that their income is much higher than I thought, higher than the income of farmers I have seen in other parts of China.
A British guy left a message under my video, saying that delivering food in the UK is not as good as going to Xinjiang to grow cotton.
China News Service reporter: The series of videos you shot in Xinjiang has received a lot of positive feedback on Chinese and foreign platforms, and some comments doubted your position and the authenticity of the videos, and even some Western media attacked by name. What do you think of these negative comments?
Gao Yousi:
I read those comments and thought it was ridiculous.
The Xinjiang series was shot randomly, and what everyone was curious about.
We happen to have a video series called "Don't See Outsiders" to experience various occupations in China, so we just added a new episode of the experience of growing cotton in Xinjiang to this series.
But some say it's a collaboration with the government.
You cannot control how others perceive you because it is difficult to change their inherent biases and stereotypes.
Crooked Nut Research Association's series of videos "Don't Look Out".
Image source: Screenshot of the video of the Crooked Nut Research Association
The biggest purpose of "The New York Times" writing an article to scold me is not to "hack" me, but to make people afraid to do content related to China, that is, "don't touch my audience."
I don't think it's scary, but it does affect some people who do similar things.
Some foreign bloggers may not make videos about China that are really for foreigners.
Now many foreign bloggers do Chinese content for Chinese people, talk about foreign culture, and help Chinese people understand other countries, which is very good.
If that's all, cultural exchange becomes a one-way street, not a two-way "bridge".
Now Chinese people have many channels to learn about the United States. They have a richer world outlook by studying English, studying American history, economy, and culture, watching American movies, and appreciating American technological innovation.
But it is still difficult to get Americans to understand China, and the level of understanding of China by other countries cannot be compared with the level of understanding of China by those countries.
My video can "threaten" the portrayal of China in some Western media, or it can change the status quo to a certain extent.
In 2022, I have a big plan, going to the United States for two months to do some interviews with the media.
I hope my content can be seen by foreigners who don't usually have access to Chinese-related content.
From this point of view, being scolded by some Western media has actually achieved its purpose: my video can be watched by more people who don’t know China.
Similarly, I think the turmoil in Hong Kong and Xinjiang has made more Chinese and foreigners pay more attention to Hong Kong and Xinjiang.
Elie Wiesel, a survivor of the Holocaust in World War II, once said that indifference is worse than hatred.
Doing nothing is the problem.
China News Service: Do you think the world will know more about China in five or 10 years?
Gao Yousi:
The world now has a much better understanding of China than it was a few decades ago. The number of foreigners who come to China, the number of people who speak Chinese, the influence of Chinese cultural works, the development of science and technology in China, and the sales of Chinese products overseas can all be reflected. .
There are channels for overseas people to understand China, but I also wonder why a lot of content about China in Western media is still politicized and negatively treated, which makes me sad.
At the same time, the new crown epidemic has also affected the people-to-people and cultural exchanges that were not bad.
Previously, many foreigners came to China to study or travel, but due to the impact of the epidemic, opportunities for exchanges have been greatly reduced.
Even so, China is still doing cross-cultural exchanges.
From my own experience, I think it is possible to understand China through new media, so it is necessary to cultivate bloggers with cross-cultural communication, who can communicate with their own people and show the real China.
These people should also have the courage to go abroad to communicate and be interviewed by foreign media. They should not be afraid of attacks from some media. They should not be afraid to respond and become "indifferent" because of this. They need to speak out more bravely.
Otherwise, overseas voices will be more negative, and people in other countries will have no chance to understand China.
Also, the content can be richer, and not all foreign media are unfriendly.
Many media and audiences are actually more concerned about how foreigners live in China, what interesting stories there are, and how difficult it is to learn Chinese.
I am confident that the world will know more about China in 5 or 10 years.
But this requires people to tell Chinese stories more bravely, not only my little Israeli brother, but also more Chinese people to spread and tell Chinese stories bravely.
Tell your story well, someone will want to hear it, and there will be a chance to change the stereotype.
(over)
Interviewee Profile:
Gao Yousi, Israeli nationality, born in 1994, president and co-founder of the Crooked Nut Research Association, was selected in the 2019 China Forbes "30 Under 30" list, and is the only overseas person selected.
Gao Yousi's father started a business in China at an early age and decided to move the family to China.
After Gao Yousi finished high school in Hong Kong, he was admitted to the School of International Relations of Peking University. In 2017, he and his team co-founded the Crooked Nut Research Association.
The Crooked Nut Research Association now has more than 100 million fans around the world. In particular, the videos of Gao Yousi and his team visiting the two places when they experienced the "Amendment Storm" in Hong Kong and the "Cotton Storm" in Xinjiang have attracted widespread attention at home and abroad.