How Kris Wu helped Chinese stand-up comedian Li Xueqin put depression behind her and become a star
- Li Xueqin came fifth in Chinese stand-up comedy competition Rock and Roast, while her hilarious crush on celebrity Kris Wu made her a social media sensation
- But the journalism graduate only hit the big time after overcoming loneliness and depression – themes she now uses in her stand-up comedy routine
She may not have won the title of “punchline king” (or queen) in the latest season of hit Chinese online stand-up comedy competition Rock and Roast, but Li Xueqin upstaged the winners of the top prizes with her down-to-earth personality and unusual backstory.
At heart, the native of Liaoning in China’s northeast is an ordinary 25-year-old who happens to have an intense crush on her idol, Kris Wu.
Since the popular actor-rapper-model has 51 million followers on his Weibo account and 7.4 million Instagram followers, Li is hardly alone. However, her infatuation with the Chinese-Canadian singer goes further than most; she posted videos of herself on Douyin, China’s version of Tik Tok, greeting Wu from landmarks around China.
Dressed casually, wearing no make-up and speaking with a distinct northeastern accent, Li adopts the same direct and down-to-earth tone in all her videos.
In a clip in which she stood at the entrance of Tsinghua University in Beijing, for instance, she says: “Hello Kris Wu. I am Li Xueqin. I am at Tsinghua University. You see how white the entrance door of Tsinghua is.” She uploaded many similar videos, and eventually they caught the attention of Wu – who last year posted a video addressed to her.