Livestreaming real China: Wuhan diary of a Guatemalan

WUHAN, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Placing her smartphone beside the inoculation table, Celia Esquivel Salguero from Guatemala livestreamed the entire process of receiving her first COVID-19 vaccine dose in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province.

"From booking the appointment to taking the jab, the entire process was very smooth, and I was relaxed about the vaccination," said the 32-year-old vlogger, who is married to a Wuhan native and has lived in the city for over a decade.

Her vaccination livestream, which she conducted in her mother tongue Spanish, has received more than 1.3 million views on YouTube and Facebook.

Celia took to livestreaming her daily life a year ago, when Wuhan with nearly 10 million residents imposed a citywide lockdown in January last year to stem the COVID-19 outbreak.

Her livestreaming account bearing the username "Chapina en China" is akin to "writing" a diary and each vlog spans from five minutes to over an hour. Some of her videos chronicled how she bought necessities during the lockdown, some showed how she explained her need for vitamins and medicines to community staff, while others captured her narrating about Wuhan's situation during the lockdown.

"I have never been nervous about the lockdown since the very beginning because I understood that such a serious decision would not come out of nowhere. So, I must cooperate with the government," Celia said.

On Thursday, the megacity marked the first anniversary since it ended the 76-day stringent lockdown and a 10-month streak of zero locally transmitted infections.

Celia is offended by misinformation about Wuhan circulating on global social media platforms, distorting the city's epidemic control measures.

"Some netizens criticized me saying they didn't believe my livestreamed videos. But a majority of my viewers said they found my vlogs informative, which is encouraging for me to continue with the diary," she said.

"I chose to do livestreaming because it's a live broadcast and cannot be edited, and using this medium, I am trying to present a real China that I perceive through my eyes," she added.

Last August, Celia went with her husband to a once-impoverished county in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and stayed there for two months. She livestreamed her experiences such as dancing with the natives and tasting various local delicacies and wines from the region.

"I was amazed at how good a once-impoverished area can become. It has modern and clean apartments and convenience stores, and I could tell that local people are truly happy from their smiles," Celia said. "Some of my viewers said that the countryside in China looked even better than many cities elsewhere."

Living in Wuhan, Celia witnessed the megacity's rapid changes. "When I first came here, there was only one light-rail train, but now Wuhan has a metro network, consisting of over 10 subway lines. My life has become more and more convenient. I think China is developing really fast. Changes happen every single day," she said.

"I may consider applying for a job when my son starts going to kindergarten. I hope the job could be something related to China and Latin America. I also hope to have the opportunity to let more people know about China, an authentic view of the country," Celia said.