Shiliuyun-Xinjiang Daily (Reporter Liu Donglai, Rayda), Xinhua Daily (Reporter Ji Fengzhu) news: “Hello everyone, welcome to my livestreaming room, I will introduce you to an amethyst ring.” The fluent English and loud voice helped the reporter quickly spot Zhao Xiang, who was walking through the glass display cases, among the dozens of livestreamers.

At 12:00 a.m. on August 9, 2023, this 28-year-old girl from Xinjiang was introducing the local specialty—crystals to European and American netizens through a cell phone at Donghai Crystal City in Donghai County, Lianyungang City, east China's Jiangsu Province.

Photo taken on August 9, 2023 shows Zhao Xiang on livestreaming at the Donghai Crystal City in Donghai County, Lianyungang City, east China's Jiangsu Province. (Photo by Zhang Kaihu)

Donghai County is the "Crystal Capital of the World". The building area of the Donghai Crystal City is 450,000 square meters, and there are more than 5,000 crystal merchants in this largest crystal market in China. As far as the eye can see, there is a wide range of crystal necklaces, rings and other jewelry in various colors such as transparent, purple, yellow, and pink. Zhao Xiang was busy introducing products and responding to netizens' questions, as well as communicating with the owners of goods behind the counter and searching for the next good product, so she could only wave her hand to the reporters during her work break.

It wasn't until around 13:00 p.m. that Zhao Xiang finally finished her livestreaming. She took a long breath and drank a big mouthful of water. "It feels so great to meet a friend from Xinjiang!" Zhao Xiang said with a hearty laugh. Her parents are both from Xinjiang and came to live in Lianyungang at a very early age, but her household registration is still in Xinjiang.

"When I was a child, Xinjiang was my hometown that I had never been to. I wanted to find a sense of belonging, so I discussed this with my parents and returned to Zhaosu County in Xinjiang to go to school after I graduated from junior high school. After that, I was enrolled in the Xinjiang University of Finance and Economics, majoring in English, and it can be said that the most youthful seven years of my life have been in Xinjiang." 

Traveling along the New Eurasian Land Bridge from China's easternmost to its westernmost, Zhao Xiang, who was only a teenager at that time, felt both nervous and curious. "There are many ethnic minorities in Xinjiang, what if I can't understand the local language? What if I can't fit in?" All the concerns turned into surprises when she stepped on the land she had been craving for a long time. Blue sky, vast grasslands, and hospitable classmates... "I made friends with people from different ethnic groups, including Kazak, Hui and Uygur. I got along well with them, and they also invited me to spend the Corban Festival with them." Zhao Xiang feels that inclusiveness is the deepest mark engraved on her during her life in Xinjiang.

After graduating from college, Zhao Xiang chose to return to Lianyungang City because she didn't want to be too far away from her parents. She struggled a lot to make this decision. It is not easy to start a business. One day, she was dragged by a friend to the Donghai Crystal Market. She was shocked, "A lot of middle-aged people in their fifties and sixties were livestreaming internationally in broken English, and they work from morning to evening. I was particularly inspired by them. Later, I learned that there are 300,000 people in Donghai County engaged in the crystal industry, and I felt that this is a big market. So I made up my mind to take advantage of my language ability." In March this year, Zhao Xiang officially came to Donghai to become a livestreamer.

In order not to be timid when livestreaming, Zhao Xiang put in a month's hard work. Although she majored in English, she started from scratch in the field of crystal. Zhao Xiang spent every day in the crystal city, taking photos of each crystal, marking the corresponding English and Chinese, and memorizing them day and night; she watched other people's livestreaming to learn; she bought a variety of books to understand the classification of crystals and carving techniques; and she studied the crystal culture of foreign countries, and practiced the conversion of Chinese and American currencies...

"The key to cross-border livestreaming is to control the pace of livestreaming process. We can't be hesitant, that makes us seem unskilled, and we also need to use appropriate words and familiarize ourselves with foreigners' aesthetic preferences." Now, when it comes to cross-border livestreaming, Zhao Xiang speaks with confidence, as if she is a professional.

Every day at 8:00 a.m. in the morning, Zhao Xiang waits early at the door of the crystal city. At 9:00 a.m. as soon as the door opens, she starts livestreaming, till noon, she hurriedly eats a few mouthfuls of launch, and then rushes to send out the goods and deal with the customers' messages. During the exchange with the reporter, Zhao Xiang kneaded her shoulders from time to time. There were a mobile power supply, two or three cell phones, a ring light and a cup in her backpack all the time, "I can still feel something heavy on my shoulders when I take off my backpack." Zhao Xiang walks more than 10,000 steps in the huge market every day while holding up the heavy cell phone holder.

"I can now achieve an average of 10,000 dollars in sales per month through my account, and sometimes I can get a few thousand views in an hour of livestreaming." Zhao Xiang said excitedly.

Seizing the opportunities brought by the Belt and Road Initiative, the overseas business of Donghai crystals is becoming more and more extensive. Countries such as Pakistan, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Russia, and Mongolia are involved in the business. In the first half of this year, the turnover of the Donghai crystal industry exceeded 23 billion yuan, and the cross-border e-commerce turnover exceeded 2.9 billion yuan. The vigorous development of the Belt and Road Initiative in the past ten years has provided young people like Zhao Xiang with a broader stage.

While talking to the reporters, Zhao Xiang kept replying to messages. "My friend and I have bought a store to make our own livestreaming studio, so that we have more freedom to go livestreaming throughout the day, and we can choose our own products, so it's more convenient to control the quality. we will install broadband and air conditioning in the afternoon." This girl from Xinjiang is bursting with boundless vitality. Just as she said, young people, of course, need to fight for their own business.

"I plan to do my current job well first, and in the future, I also want to go back to Xinjiang and bring the Hotan jade of Xinjiang to the world through livestreaming as well!" Zhao Xiang said.

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