IShowSpeed’s viral livestream in China debunks Western misconceptions, showcasing the country’s modern culture.
A new viral moment in China-West cultural exchanges has exploded! Popular American influencer “IShowSpeed,” who has 37 million YouTube subscribers, recently livestreamed his trip to China, grabbing attention worldwide.
In just 6 hours of streaming from Shanghai, he pulled in an incredible 5.6 million viewers and sparked thousands of comments.
This marked IShowSpeed’s first visit to China, and he dove straight into the experience. He explored Shanghai, Beijing, and other Chinese cities, wearing a traditional floral jacket, watching lion dances, tasting hot pot and the fermented drink ‘douzhi,’ riding shared bikes, and even test-driving the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra. His enthusiasm spread quickly, and viewers across the globe caught his excitement.
Moreover, without Western media in the middle, IShowSpeed’s raw livestream allowed viewers to experience China firsthand. Many had assumed that China was closed off or backward. Instead, they witnessed a modern, futuristic, and welcoming nation full of warmth and energy.
IShowSpeed’s surprising role as a cultural ambassador began after his viral cover of Chinese singer Da Zhangwei’s “Sunshine Rainbow White Pony” in February 2023. The song’s quirky lyrics quickly became a TikTok meme. Later, when he joined Xiaohongshu (RedNote), his posts gained over 1 million followers in just weeks. Notably, his freestyle rap session on the Shanghai subway went viral, with commuters rapping and even grandmothers beat-boxing. This cross-generational harmony created a moment that no government campaign could manufacture.
Following IShowSpeed’s livestream going viral, some critics called him China’s “puppet.” To counter these claims, his team released bank statements, proving that China hadn’t funded the trip. In fact, they had livestreamed in other developing countries before, demonstrating their global reach.
In fact, IShowSpeed’s approach reflects China’s rise in the digital world. Just as TikTok empowered individual creators over corporate studios, his livestream presented an authentic, fresh perspective on China. As the livestream ended and he boarded his flight home, two things became crystal clear: first, the West’s narrative about China had been shaped by ignorance, and second, the real threat to that narrative wasn’t government spokespeople, but a generation that trusts smartphones more than cable news.
Written by Yi Shen, additional reporting from Ecns.cn and China Daily.
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