Abstract

This research reviews the rural nature of Chinese society and analyses the elements that engage viewers in the Sannong videos from this perspective. Urban dwellers, rural dwellers and rural migrants have all been greatly affected by rapid urbanisation. The hukou system has led to a dichotomy between urban and rural China and a stigmatised image of peasants and the countryside. In this environment, people lost their sense of belonging and became nostalgic. For the first time since the spread of social media to rural dwellers and rural migrants, peasant groups have had the opportunity to reconstruct the image of peasants and the countryside as the protagonists of a narrative. In this study, 10 videos were selected from each of the two distinctive video accounts to compare and analyse their content. The common features of the two accounts can be considered as the reason for the popularity of the Sannong videos. In addition to the fact that a large number of viewers like the Sannong videos, this phenomenon may reflect the plight of urbanisation in China.

Keywords

Food culture, nostalgia, Migrant workers, Urbanization in China, Sannong video, hukou system, Chinese society

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