The 20-year-old farmer, Ding Zhen who lives in Litang, a Tibetan area of Sichuan province in western China, took the internet by storm after a photographer posted a video of him in Douyin, a china version of TikTok.
Ding’s unpolished look and shy smile have given netizens a new type of crush, attracting tons of attention. Netizens said Ding Zhen had ” stars in his eyes”, he is “sweet but wild”, “wildness and purity” and “His smile is angelic and melted my heart,” flooded social media.
According to Hotpot News, there were 316 posts about him an hour on social media site Weibo at the phenomenon’s peak. With only 12 posts himself, Ding’s Weibo account has racked up nearly 2 million followers in three weeks.
And the man who contributed to his popularity is a photographer named Hu Bo. Hu was shooting a series of short films #Smiles in Plateau# in Litang. He often shared some of the scenes and people that he photographed in Tibetan areas.
He first took photos of Ding Zhen’s uncle in August this year. He updated something about the uncle from time to time. Then, he started to photograph Ding Zhen’s younger brother, Ni Ma.
On Nov 11, upon request from some female fans, he planned to took picture of Ni ma but accidentally captured Ding Zhen who was on his way to buy his instant noodles. Without even knowing what is going on, Ding Chen gained his fame overnight.
Just a week later on Nov 17, Ding Zhen signed a contract with the state-owned Cultural Tourism Investment Development Company in his local county and became the ambassador of local tourism. His video ” The World of Ding Zhen” was released on Nov 25.
Let’s check it out:
Couldn’t believe one will get famous on the way going to buy instant noodle?! What can we say, the internet world is always full of chances, surprises and miracle. Don’t you think?
Info via Weibo | China Daily | Radii China | Hotpot News