Paper short abstract:

The traditional life of the Baikuyao is adapting to a 'modern' world. Viewing and making short videos on social media has become the most popular way of documenting the Baikuyao's daily life. I will explore how the Baikuyao use modern products to fight 'modernity' and 'cultural assimilation'.

Paper long abstract:

The Baikuyao (the White Trousers Yao) is one of the sub-tribes of the Yao which is one of the fifty-six ethnic groups in China. There are around forty-thousand Baikuyao in total in the world, and they are all living in the Nandan and Libo counties. The Baikuyao is called 'living fossil' by some UNESCO officials, while many Baikuyao people do not accept this appellation. Because to those who do not like to be called 'living fossil', this phrase means that the life of the Baikuyao is 'poor' and 'backward'.

The Baikuyao is still often introduced as an ethnic minority group which directly transformed from the primitive society to the socialist society.  Following the setting up of the Baikuyao eco-museum, Baikuyao people started to make their own village documentaries in 2010. Ten years later, most Baikuyao people nowadays have their own smartphones, and Kuaishou (快手) has become the most popular social media platform in the Baikuyao community. Kuaishou is for users to upload their own homemade short videos in the public space online. Some Baikuyao Kuaishou activists have more than ten-thousand followers.

In this paper, I will discuss how the Baikuyao use the new digital technology and the popularity of the Kuaishou to maintain their traditional culture and to strengthen their ethnic "identity".  I will also analyse, how, during my one-year PhD fieldwork research, I became the 'subject' of my research subjects who are the Kuaishou video-makers.