China’s celebrity quadruplets lifting their family out of poverty
- Millions of followers of four identical little girls are enchanted with their daily adventures which their parents are live-streaming on the internet
- Their success has meant the family is no longer dependent on government support
A poverty-stricken couple struggling to raise their family of four identical daughters in northwestern China has enjoyed a change in circumstances, thanks to China’s live-streaming industry.
Zhao Jianhua and his wife, who have been dependent on government support since the birth of their cute quadruplets in 2014, began broadcasting the daily lives of their daughters on a number of live-streaming platforms a year ago.
The sweet and funny moments shared online from the daily lives of the four little girls has turned them into web celebrities, with more than 2 million followers on TikTok and more than 1 million on Kwai, the two most popular live-streaming platforms in China.
Zhao, who also uses the daily broadcasts to sell farm produce, in addition to receiving cash gifts from internet followers, told online news platform Thepaper.cn that the family was now able to live independently in their village in Xianyang, Shaanxi province.
Thepaper.cn reported on Thursday that Zhao, 33, had volunteered to have his family removed from the list of poor people needing government help.
“We have fans on all kinds of platforms, and we now can live on our own. We’re not adding a penny of burden to the government any more,” Zhao said.
