Chinese vloggers pass off Bangladesh slums as India in bizarre videos

More than 150 Chinese nationals have been recording videos (Representative image)

Chinese nationals have been filming videos in the slums of Dhaka in Bangladesh for months and allegedly presenting the locations as New Delhi during livestreams on Chinese social media platforms, according to a report by Bangladeshi newspaper Prothom Alo.

The videos, recorded in densely populated neighbourhoods, reportedly portray local residents as poor and their living conditions as unhygienic, while falsely identifying the locations as parts of India.

The activity has been reported in Sector 12 of Uttara and the adjoining Tekpara area of Dhaka, where local residents estimate that more than 150 Chinese nationals have been recording videos.

They reportedly walk through streets and alleyways carrying two mobile phones, livestreaming for hours and sometimes entering people's homes to film.

Their activities, which have continued for months, have increasingly angered residents, who remain unaware of where the footage is being published or how it is being presented.

Bangladesh slums presented as New Delhi A Chinese national identified as Fangyou told Prothom Alo that the livestreams were part of product promotion activities on WeChat.

A Bangladeshi woman, Ritu Akhter, who works as a guide for the Chinese nationals, said they also earned money by posting videos on platforms such as Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok.

The newspaper said it translated portions of the livestreams using Google Translate and verified them with four Bangladeshis familiar with Chinese.

During one broadcast on November 1, a Chinese woman identified as Mianmian, from China's Sichuan province, described the Tekpara neighbourhood as New Delhi.

“This is New Delhi. Their homes are extremely dirty. There isn't even a fan inside the tin-roofed houses. This place is quite underdeveloped, dirty and unhygienic, and the law-and-order situation is poor,” she said.

Beyond the misleading portrayal of the neighbourhood, residents have raised concerns about repeated filming and intrusions into their homes.

Some alleged that the Chinese nationals entered houses and even bathrooms while recording.

“Sometimes they enter our homes and start filming. We are not always properly dressed inside our houses. Imagine how it feels when someone suddenly walks into your home and starts recording,” resident Rozina Khatun told Prothom Alo.