Li Ziqi. Li Ziqi/YouTube
Fans of Chinese influencer Li Ziqi woke up to a delightful — and extremely unexpected — surprise on Tuesday, November 12.
The lifestyle vlogger, 34, returned to YouTube with two new videos after a three-year hiatus, shocking followers who have long wondered whether she would ever record again.
“This lacquer video is four years late,” Li captioned her first upload, which shows her crafting a lacquer wardrobe door. “The Chinese pronunciation of lacquer is the same as ‘qi.’ I named this lacquerware hidden flowers ‘Zi Qi Dong Lai (the coming auspiciousness).’ … I send this wish to everyone who sees the video, I miss you very much.”
Her second video, also uploaded on Tuesday, showed her turning a woodshed into a cloakroom.
“I’ve always wanted to have a cloakroom of my own for many years, located in the forest, surrounded by flowers, where I could lie on the sofa in it and watch the stars,” she captioned the clip.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether the videos were filmed recently, but fans were thrilled to see Li again after her long break.
“LIZIQI POSTING 2 NEW VIDEOS AFTER 3 LONG HARD YEARS IS THE EQUIVALENT OF THE SUN BREAKING THROUGH AND WARMING A FRIGID DESOLATE FROZEN WASTELAND I FEEL LIKE IM BEING ENVELOPED IN A WARM COMFORTING HUG NEVER KỊLL YOURSELF !!!!!!!!!!!!!” one enthusiastic viewer wrote via X.
Another social media user added, “NEW LIZIQI VIDEO….. I JUST FELL TO MY KNEES.”
Li Ziqi. Li Ziqi/YouTube
Li is one of China’s most popular influencers, at one point holding the Guinness World Record for most subscribers to a Chinese-language YouTube channel. Before she stopped posting, she had nearly 50 million followers on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok. Her YouTube videos, now followed by 20 million subscribers, showcase her life in rural China as she makes handicrafts and cooks for herself and her grandma. In one memorable upload, she built a table with a functioning fountain on top.
Since July 2021, however, Li has been radio silent on YouTube, leading fans to wonder where she was or whether she had retired from posting. Theories proliferated about what had happened to her, but the most likely explanation stems from a business dispute between Li and Weinian, the agency that owned a majority stake in her brand.
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According to a 2023 article in The New Yorker, Li and Weinian sued and countersued each other a total of five times in 2021 and 2022. They reportedly reached a settlement in late 2022 that gave Li increased control over her company, but she still didn’t post any new videos.
Li hasn’t commented on where she’s been all this time, but she hinted in a social media post on the Chinese platform Weibo that she might share more soon.
“I don’t have time to write a short essay today!” she wrote on Tuesday. “I will make it up to you after I finish my work in a few days!”
