Taiwanese YouTuber Gym Boss live-streams unfiltered look at mainland China

The outspoken influencer is in Shanghai to ‘verify the truth’ about entrenched DPP narratives and sharing his findings with millions

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Holger Chen Chih-han, better known to his millions of followers as Kuan Chang, or the Gym Boss, is on a six-day visit to Shanghai. Photo: Handout

Published: 12:48pm, 11 Jun 2025Updated: 5:05pm, 11 Jun 2025

A popular YouTuber from Taiwan who was once a vocal critic of Beijing has urged his fellow Taiwanese to experience life in Shanghai first-hand, calling the mainland metropolis a “super first-rate city” during a live-streamed visit aimed at challenging entrenched political narratives on the island.

“People in Taiwan should come to Shanghai, take a look at the city, and experience life here for several days,” Holger Chen Chih-han said on Wednesday, on the second day of his six-day trip.

Holger Chen Chih-han, better known as Kuan Chang, which means Gym Boss, live-streams to his millions of followers from Shanghai. Photo: Handout

Chen, better known to his millions of followers as Kuan Chang – the Gym Boss – arrived in Shanghai on Tuesday for a self-funded tour that he said was meant to offer Taiwanese audiences an unfiltered glimpse into mainland Chinese society.

Once a staunch supporter of Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Chen said his perceptions shifted after years of observing the mainland through social media which, in his view, revealed a stark gap between online reality and official messaging in Taiwan.

“The construction and development in Shanghai are super first-rate and as the city has advanced, quality of life here has also progressed,” Chen said in a live stream.

Speaking to reporters before departing from Taoyuan Airport on Tuesday, Chen said he had once been deeply influenced by anti-Beijing rhetoric in Taiwan. “I used to think I’d never set foot in China. I hated it. I believed everything the DPP told me,” he said.

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