The Paper reporter Fan Jialai
Alee sings the French version of Mojito (“Mojito”) .jpg
“Hello everyone, I am ALice Ai Li from Paris, France, I graduated Chinese master’s degree and live in Shanghai!”
“Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai”, “Confession Balloon”, “Red High Heels” … Open Ai Li’s Douyin homepage, and you will be greeted by a series of Chinese songs that she covers in French, the most popular of which is Jay Chou’s new song “Mojito”, which has received more than 500,000 likes. The 26-year-old French girl came to Shanghai because of her love for Chinese culture, and now, she has become a “Douyin big V” because of her cover songs, with a total of more than 2 million likes and 190,000 fans.
Recently, Ai Li co-authored a new book “I am fine in China: 22 stories of foreigners and China’s fate” published by Shanghai Education Publishing House, and the surging news reporter also took the opportunity to interview Ai Li, who lives in Shanghai. “Chinese song melody is gentle and simple. There are very few such feelings in French pop music, and old songs have this feeling. She told reporters that her favorite singer is Na Ying, and she likes her “Dream One”, which is pleasant and wonderful. China’s innovative spirit is admirable, and it is full of energy and dynamism. For me, China is the future. ”
Ai Li participated in the Chinese Singing Competition for Foreigners.
Because of his love for Chinese, he chose to settle in China
At the age of 16, Ai Li first became interested in China: when she visited China with her school for two weeks, she was fascinated by the unfamiliar language and culture: “Chinese has an indescribable sense of art, and the calligraphy is intoxicating.” ”
She began to study Chinese hard, and in the summer of her freshman year, she went to Cheng Kung University in Tainan, Taiwan, China, and spent 3 months studying calligraphy and traditional painting. After graduating, she returned to France to study for a master’s degree in Chinese and media at the National Institute of Oriental Languages and Cultures in Paris. In 2014, she came to China again to study Chinese at Yancheng Normal University.
Ai Li sings with friends in a bar in Yancheng.
At that time, there were very few foreigners who came to Yancheng to study, and Ai Li was the only European in the school, and she was deeply attracted by the depth and mystery of Chinese and Chinese dialects, and unlike others, she liked to learn through songs: first record the lyrics in a notebook, and then sing these songs on the “National K Song” app. “I sang ‘Sweet Honey’, ‘Ugly Eight Monsters’ and ‘Can’t Finish Loving You’ in ‘All People K Song’, all of which are songs of different styles and eras. At that time, I was still working as a singer in a bar in Yancheng, performing with a band. She told The Paper.
“I was going to a bar and there were Chinese bands performing, and I thought they were great, and after talking to them, they encouraged me to join the band. Later we used to sing together in this bar, I sang alone, they played instruments, or sometimes I sang with a guy. We sing in different languages: French, English and Chinese. Because of this opportunity, I have met a lot of friends, and every time after singing, many people will come over to say hello to me. This experience of playing and singing in a bar has given Ai Li a better understanding of Chinese songs, especially her favorite interpretation of Chinese songs with popular French jazz, such as “The Moon Represents My Heart”, which has accumulated a lot of loyal listeners.
Because of a chance chance, Ai Li began to try Douyin, showing his life in videos: making rice dumplings for the first time, visiting Pujiang with friends for the first time, bathing the family dog… Everyone fell in love with this beautiful, spontaneous and somewhat humorous French girl, and after that, Ai Li began to post her covers of Chinese songs in French on Douyin, which also attracted more and more attention, and she now has more than 190,000 followers.
Ai Li’s life in China.
I admire Chinese girls for being “very exquisite” and want to continue to spread Chinese culture
Since the work is a new media operation, Ai Li also paid attention to Xiaohongshu. As a Frenchman and engaged in the fashion industry, Ai Li’s first impression every time he opens Little Red Book is: “Chinese girls are too exquisite.” ”
“It’s completely different from the Chinese girls I imagined before.” Ai Li confessed that before coming to China, she always thought that Paris was the most fashionable place in the world, but after seeing today’s Chinese girls on Xiaohongshu, she couldn’t help but admire their dressing and fashion taste that was no less than that of foreign Internet celebrity bloggers. “They are in great shape and look good in makeup, and I think it’s hard for me to compete with them sometimes.” She said with a smile.
At the same time, she was impressed by China’s developed Internet industry: she wore size 42 shoes, which are hard to find in Paris for women, and only men’s shoes or old styles in large sizes. “My Chinese classmates taught me how to buy shoes on Taobao. I was pleasantly surprised to find that there was also such a large size on Taobao, what did I really want, I was so lucky! With Chinese software, life is too convenient, not only shopping everything, but also arriving quickly, and you don’t need to bring cash when you go out. ”
Ai Li shared his daily life on Douyin.
It is widely believed that French men are more romantic than Chinese men, and Ai Li also has her own different views on this: “Many people say that French people are romantic, but I think Chinese more romantic. French boys are too direct, while Chinese boys are more considerate, know how to observe girls’ feelings, and know how to protect their wives. If he wants a girl to know that he likes her, he will find many ways to care for her and let her know that he cares about her. I think this way is really romantic, like a Chinese song that is as gentle and delicate. ”
At work, Ai Li is also deeply integrated into Chinese culture, she said, she always feels a family atmosphere in China, the boss and colleagues are a bit like her second family, like to communicate with Chinese, sharing is another reason why she likes China. “We come from two worlds completely and have so much knowledge to learn from each other. I exchange cultures with Chinese every day. ”
“In China, in addition to learning language and culture, I have become more independent. Alone I had to learn a lot of things, such as how to have good relationships and work skills. China has opened my eyes, I am no longer just a Frenchman, I am happy that I have matured in China. Ai Li said. She mentioned that she wants to continue to be a bridge between Chinese and French culture in the future, and plans to launch a documentary project of “French in Shanghai”: “Let more French people and Chinese understand each other and spread more beautiful stories.” ”
Responsible editor: Liang Jia
Proofreader: Shi Zheng
