{"id":1049,"date":"2023-10-24T03:59:07","date_gmt":"2023-10-23T19:59:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/2023\/10\/24\/how-foreign-bloggers-are-becoming-the-ones-to-watch\/"},"modified":"2024-07-03T22:47:54","modified_gmt":"2024-07-03T14:47:54","slug":"foreign-bloggers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/foreign-bloggers\/","title":{"rendered":"How Foreign Bloggers Are Becoming The Ones To Watch"},"content":{"rendered":"

They hail from as far afield as Britain, Europe, the United States and Japan, but Fu Lin Fang, Bai Jie, Wang Ba Dan, Gang Dan and Yamashita Tomohiro have one thing in common \u2013 for those who watch online videos in China they are all household names.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

They hail from as far afield as Britain, Europe, the United States<\/a> and Japan, but Fu Lin Fang, Bai Jie, Wang Ba Dan, Gang Dan and Yamashita Tomohiro have one thing in common \u2013 for those who watch online videos in China they are all household names.<\/p>\n

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\"Foreign<\/p>\n

American Bai Jie, also known as Jessica Beinecke, has been making videos aimed at teaching<\/a> US slang and culture to Chinese since 2011. Photo: Handout<\/p>\n

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Understanding the Foreign Bloggers<\/h2>\n

And with the exception of Tomohiro from Japan, all of these foreign bloggers have taken on Chinese monikers. They speak fluent Mandarin and make videos on topics ranging from foreign-language learning and cross-cultural differences to food, travel<\/a> and comedy, which they post on social media<\/a> platforms in China.<\/p>\n

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Just as tens of thousands of young Chinese have been drawn to the booming video blogging business, a growing number of foreigners living in China \u2013 or elsewhere \u2013 are now trying their hand at it.\u00a0Video blogging is seen by many as a potentially lucrative career path, since those with a large fan base can often use their fame to make money.<\/p>\n

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\"Foreign<\/p>\n

Photo:baidu<\/p>\n

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According to a report released by Beijing-based consultancy iResearch in June, the number of online celebrities in China with more than 100,000 followers increased this year by 57.3 per cent from 2016. The report did not give the total number of online celebrities on the mainland. Some 470 million internet users were following these online celebrities, up 20.6 per cent from the previous year.\u00a0Of those fans, 54.1 per cent lived in third- or fourth-tier cities, and 65.7 per cent sought out videos with humorous and fun content.<\/p>\n

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British video blogger William August is known as Fu Lin Fang in China, where he has three million followers. His short videos about English study, British and Chinese culture<\/a> and social trends appear on YouTube as well as eight Chinese video websites.<\/p>\n

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\"Foreign<\/p>\n

British video blogger William August, or Fu Lin Fang, with his camera and a medal from Bilibili for notching up one million fans. Photo: Lea Li<\/p>\n

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His Chinese fans affectionately call him Fang Fang, based on the last character of his Chinese name. That nickname is generally reserved for girls, but August said he liked the name because \u201cit\u2019s cute\u201d.<\/p>\n

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The 26-year-old also receives plenty of comments on his looks \u2013 some say he could pass for a Uygur, the Turkic minority from the country\u2019s far western Xinjiang region, while others tease him about his hair. August said none of this bothered him and he often made self-deprecating jokes about his own appearance.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI don\u2019t get offended. In this industry, it\u2019s very good because if you are video creator<\/a> in China, you will get a lot of abuse just for the way you look,\u201d he told the\u00a0South China Morning Post. \u201cFor me, it does not bother me.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Foreign<\/p>\n

Photo:bing<\/p>\n

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August graduated from Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou two years ago, majoring in business-related Chinese language. He was hired by telecoms equipment giant Huawei as a supply chain project coordinator in England, and in his spare time he began making videos to teach his Chinese friends English. His videos were posted on the WeChat social media app and on video-sharing website Bilibili.<\/p>\n

\"\u5fae\u4fe1\u56fe\u7247_20171128153637.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Photo:Unisci24.com<\/p>\n

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He did not put much effort into production and distribution yet rapidly amassed followers, and before long he was able to quit his day job. Now he is a full-time video blogger targeting the Chinese audience.<\/p>\n

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\u201cMy fans like me because of my personality<\/a>. I am a down-to-earth person and I am not acting,\u201d he said.\u00a0August moved back to China several months ago and plans to set up a Chinese-language video production team in Shanghai.<\/p>\n

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Another foreign blogger who has made a name for herself in China is Bai Jie \u2013 also known as Jessica Beinecke. The 30-year-old American has been making daily two-minute bilingual videos since 2011, aimed at teaching US slang and culture to Chinese.<\/p>\n

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\u201cA lot of Chinese millennials have learned a lot of conversational English from my videos over the past five to six years,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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\"Foreign<\/p>\n

Jessica Beinecke visits US cities in her latest series, introducing colloquial English terms that can be used by Chinese when they travel. Photo: Handout<\/p>\n

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Beinecke also live-streams episodes from her everyday life in New York for the Chinese audience.\u00a0A month ago she began targeting the many middle-class Chinese who travel to the United States with a series called \u201cI Know This Spot\u201d. In the one-minute videos, Beinecke visits 10 places in a US city, introducing colloquial English terms that can be used by Chinese when they travel.<\/p>\n

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\u201cMy goal is to consistently produce content my audience requests,\u201d said Beinecke, adding that her videos have been watched more than 100 million times this year. In the past month, her travel videos have been viewed 6.5 million times.<\/p>\n

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Both August and Beinecke produce videos on their own. \u201cI taught myself everything, like shooting and editing,\u201d Beinecke said. \u201cI write the content, host, produce, shoot, edit and post [on social media] all by myself.\u201d\u00a0She said that unlike foreign audiences<\/a>, Chinese tended to prefer to watch shorter videos \u2013 of just a couple of minutes \u2013 rather than longer ones.\u00a0But finding the time to create content was her main challenge. \u201cI wish I had more time to make more videos,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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The problem was shared by August, who said he worked long hours every day to produce his videos.\u00a0Both of them are making a living from their videos by working with brands.<\/p>\n

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\"Foreign<\/p>\n

Photo:bing<\/p>\n

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Other popular foreign video bloggers include Wang Ba Dan, an American who lives in the coastal city of Xiamen in Fujian, from where he makes English-language learning and light-hearted videos.<\/p>\n

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Martina Huang Feifei from Italy, Frenchman Quentin Gang Dan, and Tomohiro from Japan also have large followings for their entertaining videos in Mandarin.<\/p>\n

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Canadian Trevor James, who bills himself as the \u201cforeign foodie\u201d \u2013 Chihuo Laowai \u2013 is also a hit on social media. Based in Chengdu, his videos show him travelling<\/a> around trying food across China and other places in Asia.\u00a0\u201cAs a Chengdu native, I think this guy has broader and deeper knowledge of\u00a0Chengdu food than me,\u201d one internet user said of James.<\/p>\n

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\"Foreign<\/p>\n

William August started by making videos to teach his Chinese friends English. Photo: Lea Li<\/p>\n

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August said he was aware of Beijing\u2019s media censorship but it did not affect his videos because they were mainly for entertainment and did not touch on sensitive topics.<\/p>\n

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As for the competition from other foreign video bloggers, he said he was not worried.\u00a0\u201cI don\u2019t have any pressure in this regard. On the contrary, the more people who create content, the better for the industry,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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Source:\u00a0SCMP<\/p>\n

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\"Foreign
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