Humorous elderly couple wins 10 million followers by cooking meals

By teaching people how to make local dishes, an elderly couple from southwest China's Sichuan province has garnered more than 10 million followers on Douyin, China's version of TikTok.

Photo shows the silver-haired couple cooking. (Photo provided by the interviewee)

Grandpa Qi and Grandma Yan from Qingchuan county started to make home cooking videos on Douyin in 2020 with help of their grandson.

More specifically, in 2020, they undertook to teach people quarantined in central China's Wuhan city how to make delicious dishes with brassica juncea, a vegetable endemic to Sichuan. During that time, Sichuan province donated a batch of brassica juncea to Wuhan.

The video received more than 600,000 likes, and many Wuhan netizens left messages expressing their gratitude. Gradually, the old couple became more and more popular on the Internet-based platform, thanks to their sweet interactions and cute conversations recorded when cooking.

The elderly couple looks at each other. (Photo/Xinhua Daily Telegraph)

For instance, Grandpa Qi noted that "the soul of Sichuan cuisine lies in pepper oil" when he was cooking a dish with cow’s stomach used as the main ingredient. Grandma Yan then slyly made a comment that "the soul of Grandpa Qi has no teeth."

After tasting freshly steamed green dumplings, Grandma Yan said with a bit of disappointment that "it’s a failed one." Grandpa Qi replied, "a failed one cannot stop you from gaining weight."

The elderly couple has no script, no rehearsals and no director when they record the video clips, but their performances are attractive enough thanks to their tacit understanding about each other and simple humor as well as their distinctly contrasting appearances -- a plump grandma and a frail-looking grandpa.

More than 50 years ago, Grandpa Qi was introduced to Grandma Yan. Knowing that he was educated and loved to read, Grandma Yan was surprised and became fond of him almost immediately.

The first meal she made for him was cold noodles. "It was a luxury to eat cold noodles in those days,” the grandpa recalled.

Grandpa Qi promotes local agricultural products. (Photo/Xinhua Daily Telegraph)

Grandpa Qi likes to pick on Grandma Yan for making dishes too salty, calling her "Granny Salty", which was the origin of their Douyin account name "Sichuan Grandma Salty." The old couple loves to tease and joke with each other, and the atmosphere at their home is lively and joyful.

The old couple has walked hand in hand for half a century, and their sweet love has become the focus of attention among their many followers. Grandpa Qi hopes that by showing how Grandma Yan and himself get along, he can encourage youngsters to value their own hard-won love life.

Their grandson Chen Jie said that his family hopes to not only teach viewers about how to cook Sichuan cuisine, but also attract tourists, promoting the economic development of their hometown.