From the snowy peaks of Troodos to Cyprus’s sunny beaches, traditional villages and local cuisine, Marianna and Sofia Erotokritou have introduced Chinese audiences to the island’s beauty through their videos in the Chinese language.
The two Cyprus-born sisters discovered China through their father’s perspective and, at the age of 18, left to study in Beijing. They fell in love with the country, learned about its culture and cuisine, and saw first-hand its rapid technological and economic development.
They later decided to build bridges between China, Cyprus and Greece. Through social media accounts in China and the West, they became known as the Greek Twins, gaining millions of views with videos promoting Greek culture and tourism.
Their work has earned them the title of Greek Tourism Ambassadors, as well as other honours in Cyprus and Greece. Their goal, they say, is to contribute to stronger relations between the three countries.
Marianna explains that their roots are in Limassol. They hold both Cypriot and Greek citizenship, having been born in Athens.
Their father, Andreas Erotokritou, is from Limassol, while their grandmother Panayiota comes from Neo Chorio in Paphos and their grandfather Kyriakos from Pano Kivides.
Although they grew up in Greece, the sisters say Cyprus has always been a central part of their lives.
“We grew up feeling Cyprus not simply as our father’s place of origin, but as our second homeland. We have a home in Cyprus,” they say.
Their first encounter with China
Sofia says their interest in China began while they were still at school.
Their father travelled regularly to China for business and returned with gifts and stories about the country, its people, food and rapid development.
Those stories sparked their curiosity. They began reading about China and learning basic Chinese before eventually deciding to move there.
In 2013, the sisters travelled to China to study. They initially spent a year in Nanjing learning Chinese before moving to Beijing, where they studied at the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE).
They completed their Bachelor’s degrees in Economics in Chinese and later continued with an MBA.
The sisters spent seven years in China, one year studying the language and six years completing their university studies. They achieved significant academic distinctions and say they were among the first European students to achieve such results.
They returned to Cyprus in 2020 because of the COVID pandemic.
China’s love for Greek mythology
Marianna says her first impression of China was of a friendly and welcoming society.
Chinese people showed great interest and respect for Greece and Greek culture, particularly ancient Greek civilisation and mythology.
“Many times, we met people who wanted to talk to us about Greek philosophy. It made us feel even closer to them,” she says.
The sisters were also impressed by China’s transformation, including its modern cities, infrastructure, technology, work ethic and discipline.
Sofia says one of the things that impressed them most was the speed of development they witnessed after arriving in 2013.
“We saw the change from ‘Made in China’ to ‘Created in China’,” she says.
Despite the differences in lifestyle, daily habits and cuisine, the sisters say they discovered common ground between Cyprus, Greece and China, particularly the importance of family and respect for older generations.
The videos that connected three countries
While living in China, the sisters felt they missed Greece and Cyprus, while also realising that many Chinese people knew little about modern Greek culture.
In 2015, they decided to create videos for Chinese social media platforms, in Chinese.
The response exceeded their expectations.
Their videos attracted thousands of views, with some reaching millions, including “Winter in Cyprus”, which presented the island as a winter destination.
A particularly important moment came when, as part of a campaign by the Greek National Tourism Organisation in China in cooperation with Weibo, one of their videos about Astypalaia was selected to promote Greece.
The campaign generated huge interest, with the related hashtag reaching 211 million views.
Their aim, they say, is not simply to show beautiful images, but to help Chinese viewers better understand Cyprus and Greece, their people and their way of life.
Their cooperation with the Cyprus Tourism Organisation began in 2017. As part of the project, they translated the organisation’s official website into Chinese and created a tourism video showcasing Cyprus.
They highlighted Troodos, the Limassol Wine Festival, local food and traditional villages.
They also created content about the Cyprus problem, with Chinese viewers showing understanding and support.
Teaching Greek to Chinese audiences
The Greek Twins have also worked to introduce Chinese audiences to the Greek language.
After 2020, they created a series of videos teaching basic Greek words and everyday expressions.
Their language lessons attracted thousands of views, with more than 2,000 Chinese people participating, according to Sofia.
They also note that Greek is gradually being introduced in Chinese universities.
At the same time, the sisters continue creating content for audiences in Cyprus and Greece, presenting China’s landmarks, culture, traditions and history.
They have also prepared practical guides for people wishing to travel to China.
Becoming a bridge between China and Cyprus
For their work promoting Hellenism abroad, Marianna and Sofia were honoured in 2017 by then President of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades.
They were also named Greek Tourism Ambassadors by the Greek government for the 2021–2025 period.
Their connection with China remains strong. They travel there regularly for professional reasons, visiting around three times a year and maintaining close friendships.
Through their videos, some Chinese people living in Greece contacted them and asked them to become their godmothers.
The sisters have baptised five Chinese children into the Orthodox Christian faith, who either moved to Greece in recent years or were born there.
China as a global power
Sofia describes China as one of the most important countries in today’s world, not only because of the size of its economy and population, but because of the progress it has achieved in recent decades.
Having lived and studied there, the sisters say they witnessed China’s development first-hand, particularly its investment in technology, infrastructure, education and innovation.
They believe China will continue to play an important role in global economic and trade developments, while stressing the importance of communication and cooperation between China and Europe, especially with countries such as Cyprus and Greece.
The sisters believe Cyprus and Greece should focus more on attracting Chinese tourists, describing them as quality visitors who respect and want to discover the places they visit.
They suggest that improved air connections with Cyprus would help, while Chinese television productions filmed on the island could also attract more visitors.
For Marianna and Sofia, the biggest lesson from their years in China is that the better people understand each other, the more they discover what unites them.
Their goal remains to continue building the online community they have created and contribute in their own way to stronger relations between China, Cyprus and Greece.
