Global EditionASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
    China
    Home / China / Society

    Foreign faces win netizens' hearts

    By PAN MENGQI | CHINA DAILY | Updated: 2017-10-05 07:41
    Share
    Share - WeChat

    Israeli student among growing group of expats hitting the big time with online shows

    Canadian foodie Trevor James appears in his online show, The Food Ranger, which he has been uploading to YouTube and Bilibili for four years. Provided to China Daily

    It's late afternoon on a warm summer day, and crowds of excited young Chinese people are gathered inside a cafe near Zhongguancun, the so-called Silicon Valley of Beijing. Shortly before 5 pm, the place erupts in deafening cheers.

    Raz Galor has entered the building.

    The 24-year-old Israeli internet star holds up a smartphone to capture the reaction before settling down with about 100 fans for an evening of playing games, signing photos and answering questions.

    Galor has been hot property since December when he started hosting a video series called The Foreigners Research Institute. Each episode lasts under five minutes and features on-street interviews with expatriates in China about cultural quirks and the latest trends.

    Saul Stollery, a Tsinghua University graduate from the United Kingdom, livestreams to audiences in China using the Inke app. Provided to China Daily

    The first video racked up more than 4 million views across multiple social media platforms, including Youku, Sina Weibo and Bilibili. Since then, Galor-known locally as Gao Yousi-has produced over 50 more episodes and gained more than 5 million online followers.

    Yet despite his fame, he resists the label of "internet celebrity", or wanghong in Chinese.

    "I'm not a wanghong, I'm an entrepreneur," said Galor, who runs a production company with two Chinese partners, and is also a senior at Peking University majoring in international relations.

    "Rather than wanghong, who usually generate content from individual opinions, I want to build a platform where a group of people-in my case, foreigners-can share thoughts and experiences," he added.

    His profile on the social networking website LinkedIn describes his show as "the largest online video channel for the Chinese audience to understand the young generation of foreigners in China".

    'Foreigner 2.0'

    To make an episode of the show, Galor and his crew spend two or three days on the streets of Beijing interviewing 30 to 50 foreigners. Only the 10 to 15 who "really say something interesting" make the final cut.

    One video featured Lila Kidson, a classmate of Galor from the United States, who talked about Chinglish, which is English influenced by Chinese speakers. The appearance instantly propelled her into the public eye, and her followers on Sina Weibo soared close to 100,000.

    Galor said making foreigners famous-including himself-was not his intention, yet he acknowledged that fame is good for business.

    After the buzz generated by The Foreigners Research Institute, his production company received 10 million yuan ($1.51 million) in investment from Will Hunting Capital, which has previously financed bike-sharing company Ofo.

    Fang Yedun, one of Galor's business partners, is a Peking University graduate and former classmate of Dai Wei, the chief executive of Ofo. He and Galor began thinking about business ideas in 2014 after seeing a surge in startups across Zhongguancun.

    Initially they made videos largely about sports. However, they soon discovered the most popular episodes were those in which foreigners talked more generally about Chinese society or food.

    With the help of another friend, Fang and Galor decided to switch focus and devised The Foreigners Research Institute, releasing the first episode on Dec 16.

    Galor attributes the show's success to the fact it captures the era of "foreigner 2.0", a term he uses to describe the younger generation of expats who, unlike some who arrived in the 1980s and early 1990s, are open to contemporary Chinese society, can speak Mandarin and understand the subtleties of Chinese humor.

    His father, Amir, who came to China 15 years ago to start Infinity Equity, the nation's first foreign equity company, belongs to the "foreigner 1.0"generation, Galor said.

    Yet there is at least one thing these two generations can agree on-that China is a gigantic market that offers a range of opportunities for any business.

    1 2 Next   >>|
    Top
    BACK TO THE TOP
    English
    Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
    License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

    Registration Number: 130349
    FOLLOW US
     
    亚洲av中文无码| 亚洲AV综合色区无码另类小说| 成人无码网WWW在线观看| 中文字幕亚洲精品无码| 少妇人妻偷人精品无码视频新浪 | 日韩精品中文字幕无码一区| 日韩欧美一区二区不卡中文| 无码AV一区二区三区无码| 无码AV中文一区二区三区| 天堂Aⅴ无码一区二区三区| 中文字幕有码无码AV| 国产麻豆天美果冻无码视频| 亚洲AV日韩AV永久无码绿巨人| 亚洲精品一级无码中文字幕| 亚洲中文字幕不卡无码| 亚洲人成无码网WWW| 九九久久精品无码专区| 高h纯肉无码视频在线观看| 亚洲av无码专区在线播放| 成人午夜福利免费无码视频| 亚洲欧美精品一区久久中文字幕 | 精品久久久久中文字幕一区| 中文字幕亚洲乱码熟女一区二区| 免费a级毛片无码免费视频120软件| 无码H肉动漫在线观看| 亚洲A∨无码一区二区三区| 亚洲情XO亚洲色XO无码| 亚洲欧洲无码AV电影在线观看| 中文字幕一区二区三区日韩精品| 最近2019中文字幕电影1| 最近2019中文字幕免费直播| 人妻少妇精品中文字幕av蜜桃| 亚洲中文字幕无码不卡电影| 中文字幕aⅴ人妻一区二区| 亚洲va中文字幕无码久久| AV无码人妻中文字幕| 久久久中文字幕| 高清无码v视频日本www| 寂寞少妇做spa按摩无码| 亚洲av中文无码乱人伦在线r▽ | 久久精品国产亚洲AV无码娇色|