Shanghai Daily

Vietnamese vlogger sets off copycat foodie feud

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A VIETNAMESE vlogger’s YouTube videos have sparked the ire of some Chinese netizens who suspect her of copying iconic Chinese foodie influencer, Li Ziqi.

Titled Bep Tren Dinh Doi, which means “Kitchen on the Hill” in English, the vlog features videos about cooking healthy food using vegetables she grows herself.

So far, the vlogger has nearly 190,000 subscriber­s on the video platform, with some of her videos recording 1 million views. However, many netizens have left comments below her videos saying they’re too similar to Li’s.

From the video content, the blogger’s hairstyle and clothing to the kitchen furnishing­s, and even the involvemen­t of a grandma and a puppy, the Vietnamese vlogger’s videos have stirred a hornet’s nest among netizens. They view it as almost a “copy and paste” version of Li, with some suggesting it’s an act of plagiarism.

“I’m not against people sharing videos of their farm lives, there are lots of great ones around, but this YouTuber has full-on plagiarize­d Li Ziqi,” Joyce Fu, one of the netizens, commented. “Please respect intellectu­al property.”

Over the last two years, some vloggers have reposted Li’s video clips with Vietnamese subtitles without clarifying the source, leading to some confusion about Li’s nationalit­y. In response to this, Li issued a statement in March 2019 via her official YouTube account, stressing her nationalit­y as a Chinese and that all of her videos were shot in China.

Li, who lives in a picturesqu­e village of southwest China’s Sichuan Province, has presented herself making various Chinese dishes since 2016. Her content starts with planting seeds in the fields and progresses all the way to serving dishes on the table. Her traditiona­l food preparatio­n crafts and rural lifestyle have drawn 11.1 million subscriber­s on YouTube.

(CGTN)

 ??  ?? Top: A screenshot from the Vietnamese vlogger’s YouTube video. Above: A screenshot from Li Ziqi’s YouTube video.
Top: A screenshot from the Vietnamese vlogger’s YouTube video. Above: A screenshot from Li Ziqi’s YouTube video.
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