Livestream shows China as it really is

From late March to early April, 20-year-old US YouTuber Darren Watkins Jr, better known by his online alias iShowSpeed, visited several major cities across China — such as Beijing, Shanghai, Zhengzhou, Chengdu, and Changsha — livestreaming his experiences along the way.

Widely shared on platforms like YouTube and Bilibili, his spontaneous and unfiltered content offered viewers a raw look at everyday life in China, sparking vibrant online discussions, challenging stereotypes, and promoting cross-cultural understanding in the digital age.

Authenticity builds trust.

Through his unscripted livestreams, US internet personality iShowSpeed offered the world a genuine, credible, multi-dimensional, and open portrayal of China.

His one-take broadcasts gave viewers around the globe a chance to feel the vibrant pulse of China's cultural, technological, and everyday life confidence.

During his trip, iShowSpeed rapped and danced with locals on the streets of Shanghai, performed backflips on the Great Wall while wearing an overcoat featuring a classic floral pattern popular in Northeast China, paid tribute to Shaolin monks, and took selfies with heavily filtered BeautyCam "aunties".

None of these moments were scripted — they were all spontaneous, guided only by real-time comments from his audience.

Authenticity carries an irresistible power; only what touches the heart can truly resonate. When the world sees China captured in a bowl of douzhi (fermented bean juice), a spontaneous street choir, or a bustling Chengdu hotpot feast, every viewer becomes an observer, a storyteller, and an interpreter of the real China.

What unfolds before their eyes is not a carefully staged image, but a nation radiating confidence, openness, calm, and optimism — alive with the everyday warmth of grassroots connections.

Today, the global dissemination of China's technological achievements is still lagging behind its actual progress, leading to a skewed international perception that underestimates the country's innovative capabilities. This has contributed to an imbalanced — even distorted — image of China abroad.

However, iShowSpeed's livestreaming tour across China helped close that gap. He spotlighted the country's cutting-edge technologies, from its high-speed rail network to the widespread use of shared bicycles and smart payment systems.

In China, the seamless blending of cultural soft power and technological hard power into everyday life transcends ideological barriers and bridges cultural divides. It speaks to the heart through the universal language of empathy.

As a representative of Gen Z, iShowSpeed captures the pure, universal joy of today's global youth. Whether wearing a Team China jersey in the Forbidden City, enjoying the famous Haidilao hotpot restaurant's "noodle dance", or singing the popular Chinese song Sunshine, Rainbow, White Horse, he embodies a spirit of spontaneous, unfiltered happiness.

Rather than emphasizing the cultural differences between China and other countries, he radiates a simple, ideology-free, borderless joy that resonates with Gen Z around the world.

In doing so, he offers a glimpse of a genuine, joyful China — challenging stereotypes and encouraging young people everywhere to connect with and appreciate Chinese culture.

In today's world of multicultural tensions, iShowSpeed's journey through China carries a profound — if unintended — significance: it serves as an icebreaker for understanding the real China.

The warmth and kindness shown by everyday Chinese people reveal to a global audience the beauty of authentic, harmonious exchanges between locals and visitors.

This deep empathy creates a spiritual bond that transcends borders, races, and backgrounds.

Though iShowSpeed has left China, more "iShowSpeeds" are sure to follow. In the global symphony of cultures, they will join hands with the Chinese people to create new, unforgettable melodies — witnessing how this ancient yet dynamic nation continues to shine on the world stage and helping to compose a powerful song of global understanding.

Written by Sun Yixue, dean of the International School at Tongji University in Shanghai. His research focuses on comparative literature, world literature, and the international dissemination of Chinese culture. He has conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Edinburgh in the UK and has been a senior visiting scholar at the University of Virginia and Arizona State University in the US.