UK father and son take on bias against China 英国父子为华发声双双成网红

Click "Shenzhen Daily" to follow us!

Editor’s Note: 

A growing number of foreigners who are living or have lived in China are now presenting China’s real life to the outside world through their videos and tweets. Today, we present you the fifth of a series of stories about the social media influencers who are endeavoring to right the wrong of the Western perception of China.

编者按：

越来越多外国网红正在通过社交媒体向世界展示真实的中国，努力纠正西方对中国的偏见和错误认知。本文是Shenzhen Daily“洋网红”系列报道的第五篇。

BEFORE 2019, Oli Barrett had lived his first 21 years in a rural village in England, a place “with few opportunities around.”

奥利·巴雷特（Oli Barrett）在英格兰的乡下度过了人生的前21年，用他自己的话来说，那里几乎没有任何发展的机遇。一切转机都发生在2019年。

In early 2019, he came to China in a desperate bid to change his life at a time when he was at a low, financially broke and devoid of a purpose of life, he revealed in a video posted on YouTube. At that time, his father Lee had been doing business for about 12 years in Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen successively.

2019年初，奥利孤注一掷，来到中国。他在YouTube上发布的一段视频中透露，那时，他处于人生的低谷，穷困潦倒，失去了生活的方向。而当时他的父亲李·巴雷特（Lee Barrett）已先后在上海、广州和深圳经商近12年。

Lee (L) and Oli Barrett during a trip to Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, in April 2021. Courtesy of the interviewees

In Shenzhen, Oli partnered with his father to launch a YouTube channel, Barrett, on June 5, 2019. Lee said that in the beginning, they didn’t expect to become full-time YouTubers, and the subscriber base grew more quickly than they thought.

2019年6月5日，他与父亲在深圳共同合作，推出了YouTube频道——Barrett。李表示，一开始，他们并没有预料到会成为全职视频博主，而订阅粉丝的增长速度也远超他们想象。

According to Lee, their channel saw a surge of viewership when they started uploading videos on coronavirus updates from Shenzhen during the peak of the epidemic in China.

据李介绍，在国内新冠肺炎疫情最严重的时期，住在深圳的父子俩开始在上传有关疫情通报的视频。那时，频道迎来了第一波订阅高潮。

“I posted videos about local epidemic control measures and statistics every single day for more than one month. At that time there was a lot of fake news in the West about what was happening in China, so I just wanted to explain what was really going on. We saw fast growth of subscriber numbers because the epidemic situation in China was a very hot topic,” Lee told Shenzhen Daily in an exclusive interview May 21.

“我每天都发布疫情视频，主要分享中国疫情防控措施和相关数据，一直坚持了一个多月。当时西方有很多关于中国疫情的假新闻，所以我想让外界了解真实情况。大家都十分关注中国疫情状况，所以我们的订阅粉丝数迅速增加。”李在上周五接受英文《深圳日报》独家专访时介绍说。

In those videos, Lee presented to audiences around the world Shenzhen’s stringent, meticulously organized epidemic control measures, such as temperature checks, contact tracing, nucleic acid tests and lockdowns.

在视频中，李向世界各地的观众介绍了深圳严格细致、井然有序的疫情防控措施，如体温测量、密接者追踪、核酸检测、社区封闭管理等。

Oli Barrett speaks in a Bilibili video clip. Screenshot from Bilibili

Based in Shenzhen, they traveled around the country vlogging all the way as the epidemic was brought under control. With a light-hearted and humorous style, their videos focus on various topics such as food and travel, culture, politics, technologies, infrastructure, urban development and poverty alleviation. Lee explained that they are trying to diversify the contents so as to introduce to the outside world a true China in all dimensions. 

这对父子住在深圳，但在疫情得到有效控制后，他们游览了中国的大江南北，并用镜头记录一路上的所见所闻。他们的视频风格轻松幽默，主题丰富多样，聚焦美食、旅游、文化、政治、科技、基础设施、城市发展和扶贫等多个领域。

“My interests are geopolitics and engineering, while Oli is good at sharing personal life experiences. When our subscribers are looking for politics, they can also check out food or other videos,” Lee said.

李解释说，他们正努力使视频内容多样化，以便全方位向外界展示一个真实的中国。“我对地缘政治和机械工程话题很感兴趣，而奥利则擅长分享个人生活经验。当我们的粉丝来看政治类的视频时，也可以顺便看看美食或其他内容的视频。”

On YouTube and Twitter, their candid views on Western bias towards China have also spawn heated comments and drawn huge numbers of views. The video titled “Western media lies about China” has accumulated more than 1.84 million views since it was posted in February 2020.

在YouTube和Twitter上，他们就西方对华偏见坦率地发表了自己的观点，吸引了大量用户观看，引发网友热评。一段名为《西方媒体谎言中的中国》的视频自2020年2月发布以来，观看量已突破184万次。

Lee (R) and Oli Barrett in a YouTube video. Screenshot from YouTube

Their YouTube channel now has more than 265,000 subscribers, and has raked in a combined 27.48 million views. Their accounts on other platforms such as Twitter, Bilibili, Douyin and Toutiao have also drawn huge followings.

他们的YouTube频道订阅量已超26.5万，总观看量达2748万次。与此同时，他们在Twitter、哔哩哔哩、抖音和今日头条等平台上开设的账户也吸引了大量粉丝。

Their videos and tweets have also drawn attention from Chinese Foreign Ministry spokespersons Hua Chunying and Zhao Lijian, who both reposted a Barrett tweet defending China’s religious freedom in January.

他们的视频和推文甚至引起了中国外交部发言人华春莹和赵立坚的关注。今年1月，两位发言人共同转发了他们发的一条推文。该推文抨击了中国没有宗教自由的谣言。

Oli poses for a photo in a village in Shouyang County, Shanxi Province in early May.

Lee admitted that making their voices about China heard by the West is like an “uphill struggle” but they are slowly “making a difference.” “Many comments are inspirational. But of course there are keyboard warriors leaving negative messages about China. I would like to pay them to come and visit China, and experience for themselves,” Lee said.

李承认，让西方听到他们关于中国的声音就像一场“艰苦的斗争”，但他们正慢慢地“产生影响”。“许多评论都是积极正面的。当然，也有键盘侠会发布关于中国的负面信息。我愿意自掏腰包邀请他们来中国参观，亲自体验。”他说道。

Poverty alleviation fruitful

扶贫攻坚成果累累

The father and son have traveled to major Chinese cities including Chongqing, Changsha, Taiyuan, Chengdu and Xi’an. In June Lee will head north to Ordos City, Inner Mongolia and Xiongan New Area, a State-level new area located about 100 km southwest of Beijing.

这对父子游览了包括重庆、长沙、太原、成都、西安在内的中国主要城市。今年6月，李将一路向北，前往内蒙古鄂尔多斯市和河北省雄安新区。雄安新区位于北京西南约100公里处，是中国国家级新区。

Lee and Oli pose for a photo wearing costumes of an ethnic group in Guiyang, capital city of Guizhou Province. 

However, it is rural China that interests Lee the most. Seeing rural areas with his own eyes, he keenly feels the friendliness, better lives, and happiness of the people there. 

然而，李最感兴趣的还是中国的农村。他亲眼见证了农村的模样，深切感受到当地人民的友善、幸福以及生活的美好。

Oli poses for a photo with a beekeeper in Shouyang County, Shanxi Province in early May.

“People have been very welcoming and friendly to us. For example, once we met an 84-year-old beekeeper [in a village in Shouyang County, Shanxi Province in early May], and he invited us to his home and have tea. Even though we were the first foreigners he had ever seen, he said to us, ‘Come on in, jiaren (family),’ which was very emotional,” he recalled. “The old man lives a very comfortable and content life by selling honey.”

“人们都很友好，非常欢迎我们。比如，5月初在山西省寿阳县的一个村子里，我们遇到了一位84岁的养蜂人，他邀请我们去他家喝茶。我们是他这辈子第一次遇到外国人，但他还是对我们说，'进来坐坐吧，都是一家人'，这让我们非常感动。这位老人靠卖蜂蜜过着舒适而自足的生活。”

Lee at Shouyang County, Shanxi Province.

When visiting another village near Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, he was amazed to see the achievements in poverty alleviation. “Ten years ago, the villagers mainly grew and sold corn, from which they could only earn 1,500 yuan (US$233) per year; but now they have started growing pear trees with government grants, which produce 3.5 million kilograms of pears every year, and their income is 20,000 to 30,000 yuan a year,” he said.

在探访山西太原附近的一个村子时，他对那里的扶贫成就感到叹为观止。“十年前，那里的村民们主要以种植和卖玉米为生，每年只能挣1500元。但现在他们在政府的资助下开始种植梨树，年产量达350万公斤，人均年收入能达到2万至3万元。”

Lee wears costumes of an ethnic group in Guiyang, capital city of Guizhou Province. 

Lee cited another example of how a disabled and unemployed man realized his dreams to send his daughter to university by selling dragon fruit. “The man now earns 3,000 to 4,000 yuan per month, and the first thing he did with the money was to send his daughter to a university in a big city, which he is very proud of,” Lee recalled.

李还分享了一个故事，一个失业的残疾人通过卖火龙果实现了送女儿上大学的梦想。他回忆说：“那位男士现在每月能挣3000到4000元，他用这笔钱做的第一件事就是送女儿去大城市上大学，他为此深感自豪。”

Lee poses for a photo with some villagers in Shouyang County, Shanxi Province.

Lee told Shenzhen Daily that he and his son Oli are doing their best to talk with local Chinese people and hear their stories, which is one of the reasons why Oli is learning Chinese.

李在接受采访时还表示，他和儿子奥利正尽全力与所到之处的当地人交谈，倾听他们的故事。为此，奥利目前正在学习中文。

Defending Xinjiang

为新疆发声

The Barretts have been vigorously debunking the Western fallacies about Xinjiang. Lee pointed out in one of his videos that Adrian Zenz, a German scholar who fabricated Xinjiang “forced labor” rumors, only visited China years ago for a holiday. “Nothing he has produced has been peer reviewed,” Lee said.

巴雷特父子一直致力于破除西方关于新疆问题的谬论。李在其中一个视频中指出，编造新疆“强迫劳动”谣言的德国学者郑国恩（原名阿德里安·曾兹Adrian Zenz）只是几年前在中国度过一个短暂假期，并不了解中国。“他的所有作品从未经过同行评审。”李说道。

"There are over 800,000 people registered as refugees in the West Bank, how many people are registered as refugees in Xinjiang? It’s obvious where the real problem is," the Barrett Twitter account said earlier this month.

“约旦河西岸有80多万难民，新疆有多少人可以被算作难民？真正的问题发生在哪里再明显不过了。”巴雷特的Twitter账号本月早前发表了如上推文。

Lee added during the interview that the false allegations of the so-called “forced labor” and “genocide” in Xinjiang are totally groundless. 

李在接受采访时还补充道，所谓在新疆发生的“强迫劳动”和“种族灭绝”，都是错误指控，毫无根据。

“I don’t believe in one minute that a genocide is going on. In my opinion, the U.S. and their allies just wanted to destabilize Xinjiang and radicalize the people. The truth is that China has invested a lot in Xinjiang as a part of poverty alleviation efforts. The government gives people jobs and futures so that they won’t turn to radicalism,” he said.

“我不相信种族灭绝曾发生过，哪怕是一分一秒。在我看来，美国及其盟友只是想破坏新疆的稳定，煽动人民。然而事实是，中国政府在新疆投入了大量资金，将其视为扶贫攻坚的重要组成部分。政府给人们提供了工作，让他们有一个美好的未来，这样他们就不会投向激进主义的怀抱。”

Oli plays with handkerchiefs at an opera museum in Taiyuan, capital city of Shanxi Province.

Lee revealed to Shenzhen Daily that Oli and he were planning to visit Xinjiang in the coming days. For their first stops, he said they would go to Urumqi and Kashgar and stay there for 10 days to record food and sceneries along the way. They will make 10 to 15 videos to show audiences what Xinjiang people are doing on a daily basis.

李向英文《深圳日报》透露，他和奥利计划近期去新疆旅游。他们想先去乌鲁木齐和喀什，在那里待10天，记录沿途的美食和风景。他们打算制作10到15个视频，向全世界观众展示新疆人的日常生活。

‘China is great’

了不起的中国

In one of their videos on politics, Lee said the Chinese political system “has benefited China and allowed it to grow its economy so quickly,” and “democratic elections in Western countries slow down or even paralyze decision making.”

李在他们关于政治的一个视频中表示，中国的政治制度“使中国受益，促进了中国经济的快速发展。西方国家的制度导致决策缓慢甚至停滞不前。”

“For example, 30 to 40 years ago, China was a poor country. But now China is a very competitive leader in the world economy. India adopts the Western-style system, but lags behind China. China’s system works for its people,” Lee said during the interview.

“比方说，三四十年前，中国是一个贫穷的国家。但现在，中国是世界经济体中极具竞争力的领导者。印度采用了西方的体制，却落后于中国。中国的体制是为人民服务的。”李在采访中说道。

“We have been talking about having a high-speed rail link between London and Manchester for more than 10 years,” Lee said in a video. However, in that same 10 years, China built over 25,000 kilometers of high-speed rails, two-thirds of the global total mileage in operation.

李在一段视频中提到:“关于在伦敦和曼彻斯特之间建造高铁的话题，我们已经讨论了十余年。”然而，就在这十年里，中国已建成高铁总长超过2.5万公里，占全球高铁运营总里程的三分之二。

Lee enjoys lamb hotpot in Guiyang, capital city of Guizhou Province.

“Most Chinese people, the majority of people I’ve spoken to, are quite happy with the status quo,” Lee said in a video, because they see their lives greatly improved, and “the Chinese Government acts in the best interest of the people.”

“大多数中国人，我交谈过的大多数人，都对现状很满意，”李在视频中解释道，这是因为他们的生活水平得到了显著提升。“中国政府是真正为人民谋福祉的。”

“Freedom to many people means a lot of different things,” Lee said. Chinese people cherish “the freedom to walk around the cities feeling safe.” 

“自由对许多人来说意味着很多不同的东西。”对中国人而言，他们珍惜“安心行走在城市中的自由”。

The junior Barrett added that while Americans insist on the freedom to own a gun, “Chinese people think if I have the freedom to own a gun, I will have less safety.” “They are OK to sacrifice that bit of freedom, because that gives them a different freedom. That’s safety,” Oli said in a video.

小巴雷特补充说，美国人坚决捍卫持枪自由，但是“中国人认为如果我有持枪的自由，我就会变得更加不安全”。“他们可以牺牲那一点自由，因为这换来了另一种的自由，那就是安全。”奥利在视频中说道。

Lee commented: “Western countries have got to stop thinking that the democratic system that they have has to be something that everyone else around the world adopts. Just leave China alone.”

李对此评论道：“西方国家必须认识到，并非世上所有国家都应采用他们的民主制度。不要再干涉中国了。”

Refuting Times’ report

反驳《泰晤士报》

On Jan. 9, 2021, The Times of London published a story claiming the Chinese Government “is funding British YouTube stars to produce pro-China propaganda videos,” and focusing its claims on the channel owned by the father and son. In a video posted on their YouTube channel later, the Barretts refuted the claim, saying although they joined some video-shooting trips organized by China Radio International (CRI), which paid for food, accommodation and some other expenses for their trips, their content was independently produced and CRI had no say in what and how their videos should be made.

2021年1月9日，英国《泰晤士报》发表报道，称中国政府“正资助英国知名YouTube博主，制作亲中宣传视频”，并将矛头直指巴雷特父子的频道。

随后，巴雷特父子在其YouTube频道上发布视频，反驳了这一说法。他们表示，尽管他们参与了部分由中国国际广播电台组织的视频拍摄旅行，且旅行途中的食宿和其他费用也由其承担，但他们的内容是独立制作的，中国国际广播电台并未插手视频内容和制作方式。

“We choose what content we will produce, we decide what we are going to say in that content, we decide what we are going to publish on our channel. And that is completely different from a sponsored video,” Lee said.

“我们有权选择制作的内容，并决定发表什么样的言论。同样，也是我们自己决定在频道上发布什么。这和那些赞助视频完全不同。”李解释道。

Oli poses for a photo with a villager in Shouyang County, Shanxi Province.

The Times article used a photo of Oli with a big smile standing at the Bund in Shanghai with stunning night views behind him. 

《泰晤士报》在文中特意附上了一个照片。图中的奥利身处上海外滩，笑容满面，身后是迷人的夜景。

By doing so, The Times was trying to portray that they are living a glamorous life funded by the Chinese Government, Lee told Shenzhen Daily.

李在接受英文《深圳日报》采访时表示，《泰晤士报》试图通过这个图片来暗示他们接受中国政府资助后的光鲜生活。

“They assume we have connections with the Chinese Government, which is crazy. That day was actually Oli’s birthday and the picture was taken by one of Oli’s friends. It’s interesting to see how they manipulate words.”

“他们认为我们和中国政府有千丝万缕的关系，这简直是不可理喻。实际上，那天是奥利的生日，照片是奥利的一个朋友拍的。看他们玩文字游戏真的很有意思。”

“The report won’t be the last one, probably more in the future, because we are pushing against the narratives of the West. They have to discredit us. But I don’t care about what they say, because I know the truth,” Lee continued.

“这篇报道不会是最后一篇，未来可能会更多，因为我们反驳西方的观点和说法。所以他们必须败坏我们的名声。但我不在乎他们说什么，因为我知道真相。”李继续说道。

The Times report was a blessing in disguise for the YouTubers. “It turned out to be positive for us. We saw a big jump in viewership with 25,000 to 30,000 new subscribers in a week or two,” Lee said.

对他们而言，《泰晤士报》的报道可以算是因祸得福。“对我们来说，影响竟然是积极的。我们发现视频观看人数激增，一两周内还涨了2.5到3万粉丝。”

Based in Shenzhen

扎根深圳

Technology is one of the Barretts’ main interests. For them, Shenzhen, home to a large number of tech giants such as Huawei and Tencent, is at the forefront of world science and technology. “Shenzhen is a very interesting place to live in because it’s arguably the most futuristic city in the world,” the father and son told Newsgd.com in January this year.

科技领域是巴雷特父子的主要兴趣之一。在他们看来，华为、腾讯等一大批科技巨头云集的深圳，是世界科技的前沿城市。今年1月，这对父子接受南方英文网采访时表示：“住在深圳是非常有趣的，它可以说是世界上最前卫的城市。”

They both are very passionate about technology, sharing with audiences around the globe how they feel in their daily life about some of the cutting-edge technologies including 5G and AI.

出于对科技的热忱，他们与全世界的观众分享自己日常生活中对尖端科技的感受，其中就涉及5G技术和人工智能等。

Lee observed during the interview that Chinese people adopt technology better than their counterparts in the West. The father himself is embracing and enjoying the great conveniences technology brings. 

李在采访中称，相较西方人，中国人更善于应用科技。而他自己就在享受科技带来的巨大便利。

“When I visited Wenchuan in Sichuan Province not long ago, I bought cherries through WeChat payment in a mountainous village. Once I crashed my drones while shooting videos, I ordered one online and it was delivered the next day,” Lee recalled.

李回忆道：“前段时间我探访了四川汶川，在山村里买樱桃也是用微信付的款。还有一次，我的无人机在拍摄视频时摔坏了，于是我在网上又买了一个，第二天就收到了。”

Lee attributed such convenience to China’s investments in communication and rail infrastructure, which help remote areas get wealthy.

他认为，这种便利都得益于中国在通讯和铁路基建上的投资，这些投资也帮助偏远地区人民发家致富。

Lee is a big fan of Chinese brands including Huawei, Xiaomi and Li-Ning. He told Shenzhen Daily that he has 10 to 15 Xiaomi devices in his home, including water and air purifiers, smart lightings, cameras, vacuum cleaners and a mobile phone.

李还是华为、小米和李宁等中国品牌的忠实粉丝。他告诉英文《深圳日报》，自己家中有10到15台小米的电子设备，包括净水器、空气净化器、智能照明系统、摄像头、吸尘器和一部手机。

“Five years ago in the U.K., when I said to people that Chinese smartphones would be dominant worldwide, they laughed at me. Now Chinese brands are leading innovators in phone technology,” Lee said.

“五年前,我在英国对人们说，中国智能手机未来将在全球占据主导地位，他们不以为然。现在，中国品牌已经成为手机技术创新的领导者。”

Besides showcasing high technologies in Shenzhen, the Barretts also visit companies and factories in other parts of the country. In one video, they separately fly in a small aircraft built by Sunward. In another, they try mini electric vehicles made by Wuling. Other videos capture the duo taking high-speed trains from Shenzhen to Guangzhou and from Futian to Hong Kong.

除了展示深圳的高科技以外，巴雷特父子还参观了中国其他地区的公司和工厂。在他们拍摄的视频中，二人分别乘坐山河智能公司的小型飞机飞行。而另一段视频里，他们试驾了五菱微型电动汽车。还有视频记录了二人从深圳前往广州，以及从深圳福田前往香港的高铁之旅。

Writers/Lin Min, Yang Mei 

Translator/Hu Leyi

Editor/Song Yingwen 

WeChat Editors/Holly, Jane

Scan the QR codes below to download the Shenzhen Daily app.

扫码下载Shenzhen Daily app

iOS

Android