media personality
Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group due to the attention given to them by mass media. The word is also used to refer to famous individuals. A person may attain celebrity status by having great w ...
and
influencer
A social media influencer, or simply influencer (also known as an online influencer), is a person who builds a grassroots online presence through engaging content such as photos, videos, and updates. This is done by using direct audience intera ...
active in
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
, where she is known as a "'' wǎng hóng''" (网红), which in China means people who are famous on
social media
Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...
. She is best known for her
Bilibili
Bilibili (stylized in all lowercase), nicknamed B Site, is a Chinese online video sharing website based in Shanghai where users can submit, view, and add overlaid commentary on videos.
Bilibili hosts videos on various themes, including ...
channel "" and
YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
channel "Blondie in China", which explores different
cuisine
A cuisine is a style of cooking characterized by distinctive ingredients, List of cooking techniques, techniques and Dish (food), dishes, and usually associated with a specific culture or geographic region. Regional food preparation techniques, ...
s and
delicacies
A delicacy is a rare food item that is considered highly desirable, sophisticated, or peculiarly distinctive within a given culture or region. A delicacy may have an unusual flavor or be expensive compared to everyday foods.
Delicacies va ...
in China.
Life
Amy Lyons was born in the city of
Sydney
Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
New Zealand Herald
''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand.
It has the largest newspaper circulation in New Zealand ...
'' and is an alumna of the secondary school
Pymble Ladies' College
Pymble Ladies' College is an Independent school, independent, non-selective, day school, day and boarding school for girls, located in Pymble, New South Wales, Pymble, a suburb on the North Shore (Sydney), Upper North Shore of Sydney, New South ...
. - The article misidentifies Pymble as her university (as "college" in American English means a university). She stated that her interest in China began with a history class she took in her final year there in 2011, as the teacher was highly interested in the country. As an international commerce student at the
University of New South Wales
The University of New South Wales (UNSW) is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was established in 1949.
The university comprises seven faculties, through which it offers bachelor's, master's and docto ...
, she began taking
Mandarin Chinese
Mandarin ( ; zh, s=, t=, p=Guānhuà, l=Mandarin (bureaucrat), officials' speech) is the largest branch of the Sinitic languages. Mandarin varieties are spoken by 70 percent of all Chinese speakers over a large geographical area that stretch ...
courses in 2012, and in 2014 she took a 7-month
student exchange
''Student Exchange'' is a 1987 American television film, made-for-television comedy film directed by Mollie Miller and produced by Walt Disney Television. It originally aired November 29, 1987 as a presentation of ''Walt Disney anthology telev ...
at
Fudan University
Fudan University (FDU) is a public university, national public university in Yangpu, Shanghai, Yangpu, Shanghai, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education (China), Ministry of Education and is co-funded with the Shanghai Municipal ...
,
Shanghai
Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...
. Around 2014 she began working at a bank in Australia, but disliked it, and she also served as a
rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...
cheerleader
Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants (called cheerleaders) cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense physical activity. It can be performed to motivate sports teams, to ent ...
in the Manly Seabirds, the cheerleading team of the
Manly Warringah Sea Eagles
The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. They compete in the National Rugby League (NRL). The Manly club debuted in the 1947 New South Wales Rugby Football League seaso ...
.
In 2015, she entered into the " Chinese Bridge" Chinese language competition and qualified to be the Australian representative. She received about 1,000 followers on
Sina Weibo
Weibo (), or Sina Weibo (), is a Chinese microblogging ( weibo) website. Launched by Sina Corporation on 14 August 2009, it is one of the biggest social media platforms in China, with over 582 million monthly active users (252 million daily ...
after the Chinese Bridge producers suggested she do so. A Chinese friend gave her a Chinese name, which Lyons said was chosen to reflect her personality.
In February 2017, she moved to Beijing to take Chinese courses at
Tsinghua University
Tsinghua University (THU) is a public university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of China. The university is part of Project 211, Project 985, and the Double First-Class Constructio ...
, and she began learning
shaolin kung fu
Shaolin kung fu (), also called Shaolin Wushu (), or Shaolin quan (), is the largest and most famous style of Chinese martial arts, kung fu. It combines Chan Buddhism, Chan philosophy and martial arts.
It was developed in the Shaolin Temple in ...
. She stated that she decided to extend her social media activities after arriving in Beijing. In 2017, on her Chinese social media platforms she had a total of 65,000 followers. , her most prominent social media platform was
Miaopai
Miaopai () is a Chinese video sharing and live streaming
Livestreaming, live-streaming, or live streaming is the streaming media, streaming of video or Digital audio, audio in real-time communication, real time or near real time. While ofte ...
. That year she had 1,100 followers on
Instagram
Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...
. She received increased social media coverage in a video called "Chopstick Legs", as she stated that Chinese people are attracted to having long, thin legs. it had over three million views, making it her video with the most views.
Australians in China
Australians in China include Australian expatriates in China, international students, Chinese Australians as well as Chinese people of Australian descent. In 2001, there were over 55,000 Australians present in China. Of them, over 2,000 lived i ...
*
Afu Thomas
Thomas Derksen (born 26 October 1988 German version), known as "Afu" Thomas (), is a German internet celebrity active in China.
Biography
Afu was born as Thomas Derksen, on 26 October 1988, into a Aussiedler family in Gummersbach, West Germany ...
(Thomas Derksen) - German internet celebrity active in China
*
Dashan
Mark Henry Rowswell, CM (born May 23, 1965), known by his Chinese stage name Dashan (), is a Canadian performer and television personality who gained prominence in China. He became known in the late 1980s through regular appearances on China C ...
- Canadian television personality in China
* Lee and Oli Barrett - British social media personalities in China
* David Gulasi - Australian internet celebrity active in China
* Raz Galor - Israeli social media figure in China
* Winston Sterzel - South African social media figure in China