Feminized Idyllic Rurality? The Videos of Li Ziqi on Bilibili

This chapter critically examines the imagination of rural spaces and femininity in the videos of Li Ziqi, a popular rural-based Chinese lifestyle vlogger. Through visual and textual analysis, combined with online ethnographic methods, I show how Li’s digital idyll idealizes rural life and femininity, often reinforcing patriarchal narratives, but also creates a discursive space for critiques of rural hardships, especially gendered labor inequalities. The danmu (comment overlay) feature serves as a site where nostalgic desires for a romanticized rural and critical reflections on rural realities coexist and interact.