The Sina Weibo social media platform is often called the “Chinese Twitter”. Although Weibo is not really similar to Twitter, it does have the same ‘follower-followee’ system. Weibo users can become a ‘fan’ (粉丝) of another Weibo user, without having to be followed back. Being someone’s ‘fan’ means their posts will show up on your timeline, which you can like, share and comment on.
This is a list of celebrities from mainland China with the biggest fan base. In comparison: the celebrities with the most followers on Twitter are Katy Perry (75 million), Justin Bieber (67 million), and Barack Obama (63 million). The top two of China’s Weibo celebrities have over 78 and 77 million ‘followers': the largest online fanbase in the world.
1. Yao Chen 姚晨
78.168.835 followers.
Yao Chen (1976) is a Chinese actress and Weibo celebrity, who was mentioned as the 83rd most powerful woman in the world by Forbes magazine. She is also called ‘China’s answer to Angelina Jolie’ (Telegraph).
Yao Chen is not necessarily China’s number one actress, but she was one of the first celebrities to share her personal life on Weibo since 2009, and interact with her fans. On Weibo, she talks about her everyday life, family, news-related issues, work, and fashion. She posts personal pictures every day. The combination of her popularity due to acting work, combined with her frequent Weibo updates and closeness to her fans, have made Yao Chen the number one Weibo celebrity.
2. Chen Kun 陈坤
77.979.847 followers.
Chinese actor and singer Chen Kun (1979, Chongqing) is known for his roles in, amongst others, Painted Skin and Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress. Chen Kun is not only popular because of his acting work, but also for his looks – he is known to have a large gay fanbase.
3. Zhao Wei 赵薇
73.311.919 followers.
Vicky Zhao (1976) is a Chinese film star, singer, entrepreneur and director. She is also known for her work as ambassador for various brands, which has added to her wealth.
Zhao Wei is the world’s wealthiest working actress. Together with actresses Zhang Ziyi, Zhou Xun and Xu Jinglei, she belongs to China’s ‘Four Dan Actresses’ (四大花旦): the four greatest actresses of mainland China.
Zhao Wei regularly updates her Weibo, where she posts about her work as an actress, her photoshoots, and her ambassador work for good causes. In the recent pictures below, she visits a hospital for children with leukaemia.
4. Xie Na 谢娜
72.962.003 followers.
Xie Na (1981), also nicknamed ‘Nana’, is a popular singer, actress and designer. She is also the co-host of ‘Happy Camp‘ (快乐大本管), one of China’s most popular variety TV shows. She is the colleague of He Jiong, the number 5 in this list.
Xie Na stars in many popular Chinese films and television series. She has also released several albums, founded a personal clothing line, and published two books.
Before getting married to Chinese singer Zhang Jie, Xie Na was in a 6-year relationship with her colleague Liu Ye, who is on number 7 of this list.
5. He Jiong 何炅
69.567.457 followers.
He Jiong has been the host of China’s popular Happy Camp TV show for over ten years. He is also a singer, actor and an Arabic teacher in Beijing Foreign Studies University.
‘Happy Camp’ (快乐大本馆) is a prime time variety show aired by Hunan TV. It is one of China’s most popular TV shows. With a viewership of tens of millions, it often holds the first place in China’s total viewing rating.
6. Guo Degang 郭德纲
62.386.148 followers.
Guo Degang is a Chinese comedian (1973) and known for his ‘xiangsheng‘ (相声), a traditional Chinese comedic performance in the form of a dialogue between two performers.
One of Guo Degang’s Weibo posts caused controversy in 2013, when the comedian posted a poem about karma the day after Beijing TV director Wang Xiaodong passed away.
Guo Degang recently posted on Weibo about stepping into the wine business.
7. Liu Ye 刘烨
48.189.408 followers.
Liu Ye (1978) is a famous Chinese actor, who is known for taking on difficult roles. He played a young homosexual man in Lan Yu and starred opposite Meryl Streep in the Hollywood film Dark Matter.
The actor is currently a contestant in China’s popular reality show ‘Where Are We Going, Dad?‘, which is now a recurring topic in his Weibo posts.
8. Han Han 韩寒
41.933.102 followers.
Famous Chinese blogger, best-selling writer and race-car driver Han Han (1982) is one of the most influential people on Weibo, and was even named one of the most influential people in the world by Time magazine in 2010.
Han Han does not post daily updates on his Weibo, but he is known for addressing sensitive topics. Not long ago, he shared his thoughts on China not allowing single women to freeze their eggs.
9. Jia Nailiang 贾乃亮
41.310.313 followers.
Jia Nailiang (1984, Harbin) is an actor who has starred in TV series since he was a child. He has starred in over 30 TV series in the past 10 years. He is married to award-winning actress Li Xiaolu.
10. Fan Bingbing 范冰冰
38.591.597 followers.
Fan Bingbing (1981) is one of China’s most famous fashion icons and actresses, known for, amongst others, Lost in Beijing, Chongqing Blues and X-Men: Days of Future Past.
Fan Bingbing is the 4th highest-paid actress in the world.
By Manya Koetse
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About the Author: Manya Koetse is the editor of What’s on Weibo. She’s a Sinologist who splits her time between the Netherlands and China. She earned her bachelor’s degrees in Literary Studies, Japanese & China Studies and completed her MPhil in Asian Studies. Contact: manya@whatsonweibo.com, or follow on Twitter.©2015 Whatsonweibo. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce our content without permission – you can contact us at info@whatsonweibo.com.
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