‘King of Mandopop’ Jay Chou lookalike pancake vendor in China becomes top influencer, news of national flapjack tour delights 3 million fans
- Small town street vendor sells pancakes, is ringer for star singer
- Online fans propel him to fame, but he keeps feet on ground
A street food vendor in China has attracted 3 million followers on mainland social media because he looks like the “King of Mandopop” Jay Chou.
Bai Xianying, 43, went viral online in 2020 after a customer posted a video of him with one of the star’s songs playing in the background.
The video changed the life of a man who had been selling stuffed pancakes in a small town in northern China’s Hebei province since 2015.
Online observers nicknamed him “Zhou Binglun”, a play on Jay Chou’s Chinese name which translates into “porridge and pancake Jay”.
They also turned his clothing and expressions into puns using the names of 45-year-old Chou’s songs.
Despite his new-found fame, Bai continued his street food business, and did not become an impersonator like others who perform Chou’s songs for a living.
Last September, the food vendor went viral online again after an increasing number of people thronged to the town where he had his stall to post videos of him.
They were impressed that Bai did not appear to have allowed all the attention to go to his head, but remained down-to-earth.
Like Chou, Bai now goes on national tours from time to time, but to sell pancakes not pop songs.
His pop-up shops always have a long line of customers waiting, and some fans even offer to pick him up at airports.
Online observers who compare the two men, say they respect the vendor more because he has stuck to his original career, whereas the singer has been accused by some of becoming distracted and losing focus.
Last December, Jay Chou released a new song, Christmas Star, which was met with harsh online comments, such as “he has lost his talent”.
Chou was productive from his debut in 2000 to 2016, before shifting his attention to his family and art collection.
His most recent album, Greatest Works of Art, was released in 2022, six years after the previous one.
Famous lookalikes frequently enjoy online popularity in China.
One was an eight-year-old boy who looked like Jack Ma, founder of e-commerce giant Alibaba, which owns the South China Morning Post.
Another was thought to be the Chinese double of Elon Musk, but was discovered to be using deepfake technology to make himself look like the tech billionaire.
