On the days that plotlines and dialogue in web series feel too burdensome to keep track of, there is one genre of YouTube videos that I turn to in order to stave off brain rot: country living and traditional cooking, it’s called.
I was first introduced to this genre during the pandemic. These videos, at least 20 minutes or even longer, mostly feature women from around the world, gathering ingredients from fields and gardens and cooking elaborate and painstaking meals inside picturesque homes or outside their homes – which inevitably have breathtaking countryside views.
My favourite is the Chinese vlogger Li Ziqi. Besides cooking, other videos she has made include building a table with flowing water that can carry dishes, knitting and dyeing a purple woolen cloak and building a walk-in closet for her grandmother using wood and bamboo – all from scratch.
Aesthetically filmed, the videos are set to gentle music. They show Ziqi as she goes about her arduous work peacefully, with close-ups of delicious food or exquisite crafts interspersed with gorgeous shots of flowers, fields, stars and skies from the Sichuan countryside.
Watching these videos before bedtime on long days is a cozy and soothing experience. They help me wind down and fill my head with vivid natural imagery to dream about.
