A Pakistani student uses vlogs to spread friendship between his country and China
A young Pakistani student has been making vlogs about Chinese culture, food, and daily life to help make friends between Pakistan and China.
Mahzaib Abbasi has been in China for almost seven years. He goes to the Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU) to learn.
“My vlogs give people in Pakistan, the United States, Europe, and the Middle East a look at Chinese culture, people, and daily life,” she said.
Abbasi went to China in 2016 on a scholarship from the Confucius Institute to learn Chinese. While she was studying in the capital of China, she had several chances to go to almost 50 towns in the country next door.
“I feel something different in every place in China. I stayed in Yunnan, where I went to Lijiang, Dali, Xishuangbanna, Kunming, Shangri-La etc. In these towns, you can feel the old culture,” she said.
In her vlogs, she also showed modern towns and tall buildings all over China. “It’s great to visit these places in China.”
The young Pakistani vlogger also made movies about how Muslims live, mosques, religious freedom, and whether or not halal food is available in China.
She said that there are a lot of Muslims in China and that you can get kosher food anywhere. “Lanzhou and Xi’an have a lot of Muslims. Nearly every place in China has Muslims living there. I went to Xi’an’s Muslim Street. It is possible to eat halal food.
“Most cities in China sell Lanzhou noodles, fried noodles, pilaf, and fried rice.”
Abbasi took a film in Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu province, of Muslims praying in a mosque on Eid.
“Many people have heard that Muslims in China don’t have freedom and can’t go to mosques and pray, but as you can see in my video, people are free to do religious things,” she said.
Abbasi said that many people do not know much about China because they have never been there. She also said that China has a lot of places that serve Pakistani food.
“A lot of people don’t know anything about China. Many people know what China is really like after seeing the movies. China is so beautiful and easy to get around in,” she added.
“Many people want to study and work in China. Many people from other countries work here.”
After she finishes her degree studies, Abbasi wants to teach Chinese in Pakistan or anywhere else in the Middle East.