Friends reunion as highly anticipated in China as anywhere, and social media is flooded with reactions
- Friends first grew in popularity as a tool to help Chinese people learn English, but quickly captured the imagination of the Chinese public
- Like millions elsewhere, fans of the show in China counted down to the moment it began streaming on Thursday, and reacted on social media
It would be easy to dismiss the power of a slightly outdated, mildly problematic but still wildly popular TV sitcom to build cultural bridges between two feuding geopolitical giants.
But Friends, an American sitcom that pundits consistently consider to be one of the five most successful sitcoms of all time, accomplished just that.
For 34-year-old banker Nicole Yu, working in Hong Kong, the cast, setting and lifestyle promoted by Friends are what she thinks of when asked about the “American dream”.
“I saw them living together, with a lot of drama but also love, and I envied their lives,” she said. “The show planted in my heart a dream that I would someday visit the US.”
She first watched the show in secondary school because it was recommended to her by an English tutor as a way to learn authentic American pronunciations. She became addicted to the show, and bought DVDs of all 10 seasons.