A grandmother sews cloth shoes for children at home. Photo: VCG

A BBC reporter has produced a documentary to celebrate Chinese grandmothers after a new BBC sitcom was embroiled in a race row for portraying them in a negative light. 

On February 15, Elaine Chong initiated the Twitter hashtag #RealAsianGranny after concerns were raised over the BBC's yet to be aired comedy titled "Living with the Lams" by media and professional organizations. The comedy is centered around a Chinese diner in Manchester featuring a grandmother who constantly spits. 

BBC reporter Chong created the hashtag to celebrate grandmothers, who she called "the strongest women we have known." 

Under the hashtag, many Chinese netizens shared video clips telling stories about their grandmothers to refute the negative figure portrayed in the comedy. 

Chong then compiled them into a documentary titled "Our Grandmas" to restore the true image of the Chinese grandmother. 

In these video clips, Twitter users praised their grandmothers for the sacrifices they had made, and for teaching them how to cook, and even for preventing an arranged marriage. "She is way more cool than my mother," said one tweet.

However, not all netizens shared this perfect view of grandmothers. 

"Grandmothers are not the same everywhere. In regions that favor boys, grandmothers are not perfect at all," one video clip said.

In another clip, an interviewee said, "I hate my grandma for provoking conflicts between my parents and making them get divorced."

"It seems to me that many people are not familiar with the situation in rural China where most grandmothers are poorly educated. Even so, they are kind people. The BBC has completely smeared the image of Chinese grandmothers," some netizens said. 

Meanwhile, UK-based volunteer network British East Asians in Theatre & on Screen (BEATS) started a campaign in response to Living with the Lams. 

According to BEATS' official website, they have made three communications to the BBC to voice their concerns. 

Global Times