An elderly couple has won more than 10 million followers with their videos teaching how to home cook Sichuan cuisine on Douyin, the Chinese version of short video-sharing app TikTok.

Grandpa Qi and Grandma Yan from Qingchuan county, Southwest China's Sichuan Province, started doing home-cooking videos on Douyin in February 2020 with help of their grandson.

Grandpa Qi and Grandma Yan

The sweet interactions and humorous talk between the old couple have moved many people, and the local flavor and rustic charm bring strong surges of nostalgia. Their account "yantaipo8888" gained popularity quickly.

Sweet love

The old couple’s kitchen is cheerful with Grandma Yan serving as chef and Grandpa Qi as the assistant. While cooking, they have cute conversations.

After tasting the dish qingtuan, for example, Grandma Yan said with disappointment, "This is a failed one." Grandpa Qi replied, "A failed one dosen't stop you to gain weight.”

Their videos have no script, no rehearsal and no director, but they are attractive thanks to the couple's tacit understanding about each other and simple humor as well as their distinctly contrasting appearances, a passionate plump grandma and a frail-looking grandpa.

More than 50 years ago, Grandpa Qi was introduced to Grandma Yan. She developed a crush on him because he was knowledgeable and liked reading. The first meal Yan made for Qi was a bowl of cold noodles. Qi joked the noodles were delicious, which "tricked" him into their 50-year marriage.

Because Qi thinks the dishes his wife makes are too salty sometimes, he jokingly calls her "Grandma Salty." This is origin of their Douyin account name, "Sichuan Grandma Salty."

Their sweet love is the focus of attention among their followers. When asked about the secret of maintaining love, Qi said, "Only if you go through hard times together will you cherish each other."

Helping their grandson's entrepreneurial business

Their grandson Chen Jie used to be a courier working in Chengdu. Tired of the busy work life in the city, he finally decided to go back home and start his own business—an online shop selling local specialities.

The increasingly fierce competition in the market pushed Chen to film short videos in order to promote his products. But without an expert team and enough money, it was difficult for him to create good videos.

Grandpa Qi encouraged Chen and they came up with an idea during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. They took a video of Grandpa Qi teaching Wuhan people to cook a kind of vegetable which Sichuan donated to Wuhan. The video received tens of thousands of likes. Later Grandma Yan also appeared on the camera and her videos got more likes.

Chen said that their whole family hoped that these videos will not only teach the world about local specialities, but also draw in visitors, promoting the development of their hometown.

Empathy and nostalgia

Watching the videos of the old couple, many people seem to be reminded of their own grandparents. Many fans also offer their support and blessings to the old couple. One time, noticing that Grandma Yan's hand was a little swollen, a fan asked Chen to take Yan to see a doctor. Some fans even drove to visit them, in order to have a bite of food made by the couple.

"Though many people have moved to cities, they have a strong sentimental attachment to the past and the countryside," explained Professor Cai Shangwei from the College of Literature and Journalism at Sichuan University.

He deemed that the simple and strong feelings shown in the couple's videos reflect what urban life lacks.

Videos conveying serenity, intimacy and nature feed people's nostalgia, he said.