Tenzing Tsondu ( Tibetan: བསྟན་འཛིན་བརྩོན་འགྲུས་; Chinese: 丁真珍珠;

Pinyin Hanyu Pinyin, or simply pinyin, officially the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet, is the most common romanization system for Standard Chinese. ''Hanyu'' () literally means 'Han Chinese, Han language'—that is, the Chinese language—while ''pinyin' ...

: Dīngzhēn Zhēnzhū; born 7 May 2001), known professionally as Ding Zhen (Chinese: 丁真), is a Tibetan singer,

Internet celebrity An Internet celebrity, also referred to as an Internet personality, is an individual who has acquired or developed their fame and notability on the Internet. The growing popularity of social media provides a means for people to reach a large ...

and businessman from Litang,

Sichuan Province Sichuan is a Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capita ...

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 ...

Early life

He was a Khampa herdsman who did not finish primary school and barely speaks

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

Ding Zhen Phenomenon

On 11 November 2020, he became famous on the Internet for a 7-second

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

video clip taken by Chinese photographer Boge, and was named 'Sweet Wild Boy (Chinese: 甜野男孩;

: Tianye Nanhai)' by Chinese netizens. Within a few days, his related message was read by millions of people 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 ...

. On 18 November, he was recruited by Litang Culture, Tourism and Sports Investment Development Corporation Limited, a local

state-owned company A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a business entity created or owned by a national or local government, either through an executive order or legislation. SOEs aim to generate profit for the government, prevent private sector monopolies, provide goo ...

to promote the local tourism industry. Other East Asian countries, such as

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

, have also covered him. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson

Hua Chunying Hua Chunying ( zh, s=华春莹; born 24 April 1970) is a Chinese diplomat who has been serving as Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of China since 2024. She most notably served as spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. After graduating ...

also reposted photos of Ding Zhen on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

. The "Ding Zhen phenomenon" has led to a large number of Chinese tourists travelling to Tibetan areas, with a significant increase in orders for destinations such as Kangding airport and

Daocheng Yading airport Daocheng Yading Airport is an airport serving Daocheng County in the Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan province, China. It is located in Sangdui Township, north of the county seat and from the Yading Nature Reserve. At abov ...

Works

On 4 February 2021, Ding Zhen released his first album ''1376 All Wishes Come True'' (1376心想事成) in collaboration with a Tibetan band, ANU.

Controversy

Ding Zhen's sudden ascension to wealth and fame caused great controversy, especially among China's Small-town Swots. Some netizens disparage his success as the "epitome of superficiality" while they struggle because their only path to success is in hard work in school and the workplace. Ding lacks formal education and yet gained wealth and status, including a job in a Chinese state-owned enterprise, which usually requires fierce competition to obtain. The

Central Tibetan Administration The Central Tibetan Administration (, , ) is the government-in-exile of Tibet, based in Dharamshala, India. It comprises a judiciary branch, a legislative branch, and an executive branch, and offers support and services to the Tibetan exile c ...

criticized the

Chinese government The government of the People's Republic of China is based on a system of people's congress within the parameters of a Unitary state, unitary communist state, in which the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) enacts its policies through people's ...

's use of Ding Zhen as propagandistic and not really promoting

Tibetan culture Tibet developed a distinct culture due to its geographic and climatic conditions. While influenced by neighboring cultures from China, India, and Nepal, the Himalayas, Himalayan region's remoteness and inaccessibility have preserved distinct ...

, especially their

religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...

. Other critics argued that Ding Zhen's status as an ethnic minority contributes to fetishization and colonial-gazes from a China dominated by ethnic Han people, who view him and Khampa culture as a primitive and exotic "other". Furthermore, in attracting tourists interested in fulfilling their cottagecore fantasies, he risks shifting local traditions toward conformity with tourists' expectations.

References

{{Reflist, refs= {{cite web , script-title=zh:丁真发新歌《1376心想事成》 , website=中国网 , date=2021-02-04 , url=http://henan.china.com.cn/m/2021-02/04/content_41462634.html , language=zh , access-date=2023-11-05 {{Cite web, title='Handsome' Tibetan man in China gets job offer after finding fame online, url=https://www.scmp.com/video/china/3110973/handsome-tibetan-man-china-gets-job-offer-after-finding-fame-online, access-date=2021-08-30, website=South China Morning Post {{Cite web, last=施郁韻, date=2020-11-30, title=吳彥祖翻版！藏族男孩7秒影片霸屏 1.3億熱度征服網友, url=https://www.setn.com/News.aspx?NewsID=856812, url-status=live, access-date=2021-08-30, website=三立新聞網, language=zh-Hant-TW, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210117140138/https://www.setn.com/News.aspx?NewsID=856812 , archive-date=2021-01-17 {{Cite web, last=Xu, first=Jun, date=22 January 2021, title=Ding Zhen and the Myth of the True Khampa Man, url=https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1006739/ding-zhen-and-the-myth-of-the-true-khampa-man, url-status=live, access-date=2021-08-30, website=Sixth Tone, language=en, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210122220110/https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1006739/ding-zhen-and-the-myth-of-the-true-khampa-man , archive-date=2021-01-22 {{Cite web, last=底伊乐, title=《丁真的世界》背后，那些"丁真式"美景都在哪？, url=https://m.jiemian.com/article/5339837.html, url-status=live, access-date=2021-08-30, website=界面新闻, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201209080715/https://m.jiemian.com/article/5339837.html , archive-date=2020-12-09 {{Cite web, last=吴丹, title=丁真也当歌手了，越来越多"小镇青年"成为音乐人, url=https://www.yicai.com/news/100945982.html, url-status=live, access-date=2021-08-30, website=第一财经, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210209045112/https://www.yicai.com/news/100945982.html , archive-date=2021-02-09 {{Cite web, last=Wu, first=Charlotte, date=2021-07-06, title=Ding Zhen, the Tibetan Viral Sensation, Starts His Own Business, url=https://radiichina.com/viral-tibetan-boy-new-company/, url-status=live, access-date=2021-08-30, website=RADII China, language=en-US, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210706073123/https://radiichina.com/viral-tibetan-boy-new-company/ , archive-date=2021-07-06 {{Cite web, title=丁真直播首秀：一小时观看人数10万+点赞100w+ 已成"顶流网红", url=https://m.nbd.com.cn/articles/2020-12-04/1564349.html, url-status=live, access-date=2021-08-30, website=每日经济新闻, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210830144752/https://m.nbd.com.cn/articles/2020-12-04/1564349.html , archive-date=2021-08-30 {{cite web , last=Zhang , first=Wanqing , title=Netizens Thirsty for Tibetan Heartthrob , website=SixthTone , date=2020-11-20 , url=https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1006471 , access-date=2023-11-05 {{Cite web, last=Jacobus, first=Luke, title=Meet Ding Zhen: Khampa Tibetan "Horse Prince" Becomes Social Media Sensation, url=https://www.whatsonweibo.com/meet-ding-zhen-khampa-tibetan-horse-prince-becomes-social-media-sensation/, url-status=live, access-date=2021-08-30, website=What's on Weibo, language=en-US, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201123153358/https://www.whatsonweibo.com/meet-ding-zhen-khampa-tibetan-horse-prince-becomes-social-media-sensation/ , archive-date=2020-11-23 {{Cite web, title=Tibetan herdsman becomes online celebrity for eye-catching image, lifestyle, url=https://www.shine.cn/news/nation/2012010914/, access-date=2021-08-30, website=SHINE, language=en {{Cite web, title=文旅产业指数实验室发布"丁真"现象级爆红舆情分析报告, url=http://www.ctnews.com.cn/news/content/2020-12/02/content_92931.html, url-status=live, access-date=2021-08-30, website=中国旅游新闻网, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201210064557/http://www.ctnews.com.cn/news/content/2020-12/02/content_92931.html , archive-date=2020-12-10 {{Cite web, title=四川藏族丁真爆红藏人：中国主导去西藏化的西藏热, url=https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/shaoshuminzu/hx-12012020064403.html, access-date=2021-08-30, website=Radio Free Asia, language=en {{Cite web, last=郭建伟, title=为什么是丁真？, url=http://www.xinhuanet.com/multimediapro/2021-01/09/c_1210972119.htm, url-status=live, access-date=2021-08-30, website=新华网, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210109201523/http://www.xinhuanet.com/multimediapro/2021-01/09/c_1210972119.htm , archive-date=2021-01-09 {{Cite web, title=四川藏族青年丁真意外爆红分析警示他恐很快被资本榨干 {{! 早报, url=https://www.zaobao.com.sg/znews/greater-china/story20201130-1104900, url-status=live, access-date=2021-08-30, website=联合早报, language=en, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201130161105/https://www.zaobao.com.sg/znews/greater-china/story20201130-1104900 , archive-date=2020-11-30 {{Cite web, last=, date=, title=藏族甜野男孩扎西丁真爆紅不忘宣傳家鄉, url=https://udn.com/news/story/7331/5063154, url-status=live, access-date=2021-08-30, website=聯合新聞網, language=zh-Hant-TW, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210801012351/https://udn.com/news/story/7331/5063154 , archive-date=2021-08-01 {{Cite web, title="丁真"的身后，藏族元素真的缺席了吗？, url=https://www.chinanews.com/gn/2021/01-27/9397718.shtml, url-status=live, access-date=2021-08-30, website=中新网, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210127072051/http://www.chinanews.com/gn/2021/01-27/9397718.shtml , archive-date=2021-01-27 {{Cite web, last=杨鑫宇, date=, title="做题家"们的怨气，为何要往丁真身上撒？, url=https://s.cyol.com/articles/2020-12/20/content_ryn3B7uR.html, url-status=live, access-date=2021-08-30, website=中国青年报, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201221013652/https://s.cyol.com/articles/2020-12/20/content_ryn3B7uR.html, archive-date=2020-12-21 {{Cite web, last=Zhao, first=Lu, date=2020-12-14, title=This Tibetan Boy Has Dominated Social Media for a Month, url=https://radiichina.com/ding-zhen-tibetan/, url-status=live, access-date=2021-08-30, website=RADII China, language=en-US, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201214055303/https://radiichina.com/ding-zhen-tibetan/ , archive-date=2020-12-14 {{cite web , title=Discovering Ding Zhen: Influencer Culture And The Myth Of Tibet In Chinese Social Media , website=US-China Institute , date=2021-09-15 , url=https://china.usc.edu/discovering-ding-zhen-influencer-culture-and-myth-tibet-chinese-social-media , access-date=2023-11-05 {{cite conference , url=https://webofproceedings.org/proceedings_series/ESSP/IEESASM%202022/ES003.pdf , title=“I Feel Affronted by His Smile!”: Chinese Netizen Reactions to State-Promoted Star-Making in the Case of Tenzing Tsondu , last1=Zheng , first1=Mingqiu , date=December 2022 , location=Sanya, China , conference=2022 10th International Education, Economics, Social Science, Arts, Sports and Management Engineering Conference , doi=10.25236/ieesasm.2022.003

External links

Ding Zhen
on

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 ...

21st-century Tibetan male singers Chinese Internet celebrities 2001 births Living people Sina Weibo controversies