海外网红为全球观众重新定义了中国 - 2026年05月25日

Foreign content creators are flocking to China in growing numbers, drawn by curiosity about a country their followers have long seen only through secondhand narratives. What they encounter on arrival, they say, often differs sharply from what they were told.

Jerry, a 25-year-old Greek traveller on his third trip to China, Kamil, a Polish vlogger with 591,000 YouTube subscribers, and Andris Kivics, a Latvian musician making his first visit to the country, are among them. All three passed through Shanghai this week, posting to audiences on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook.

For each, the visit began with dismantling assumptions. Jerry, who has previously travelled to Chengdu and Chongqing in the southwest of the country as well as the capital Beijing, said Europeans are conditioned from childhood to expect a rigid, closed society. "We are told from a very young age that China is a very strict country," he said. “But coming here you can see warm people, friendly people, hospitable people.”

Kamil identified scale as the misconception most likely to catch first-timers off guard. The distances are vast, but the infrastructure is designed to make them feel manageable. He pointed to the high-speed rail network, roughly 37,000 kilometres of track with trains reaching speeds of 350 kilometres per hour, as the factor that most quickly reshapes preconceptions.

Kivics, who arrived with no prior China experience, said the gap between his expectations and reality hit him within minutes of boarding a Huangpu River cruise. Having previously visited New York and Dubai, he was unprepared for the scale of what he saw. "I never thought the view to be on both sides and it’s even better from the boat,” he said.  “I recommend that you take this cruise when you come to Shanghai.”

Jerry, whose content focuses on price-and-value comparisons, zeroed in on technology as China's sharpest edge, such as taxi dashboard cameras, autonomous parking and advances in medical care. "China wins in everyday life details," he said. "Small details, but big differences." His overall verdict was that China is the most advanced country he has ever been to after visting 32 countries.

Kivics put it in musical terms. "It is like a total pop rock hit," he said of Shanghai. "Totally mind blowing and worldwide." He compared the Bund and Pudong skyline favourably to both Dubai and New York several times. “It's the most beautiful I've seen.”

For people living in southern and eastern Europe with limited direct exposure to China, unscripted creator reactions carry a credibility that institutional messaging struggle to match.

Language was the one friction point that all three acknowledged, but none called it a barrier with tools like artificial intelligence available. "If we want to communicate, we can try," Kamil said. Jerry was blunter and said that in three visits, he had encountered no real difficulty. “China is very easy and simple to travel.”

All three said they plan to return. "Shanghai must be on your itinerary in China," Jerry said. “You cannot miss it.”

Source: Yicai Global