MACAO
\nAmong the many queues of fans waiting to meet their idols at the largest content creator event in Macao, one stands apart and does not seem to end. It is for a man instantly recognizable throughout the Chinese-speaking influencer scene: Iraqi food vlogger Ahmed.
\nDressed in a suit \u2014 as he typically does in his videos \u2014 he steps forward to warmly greet each guest, posing for photos, signing autographs, sharing laughs, and chatting about their lives in fluent Mandarin.
\nBorn in Baghdad, Ahmed Mohammed Jaber Al-Kalthoom began learning the language after arriving in Northwestern China in 2014. Four years later, he released his first viral video in Chinese, which brought him to social media fame.
\nThe video, filmed in Inner Mongolia, was about noodles.
\n\u201cThere are more than 1,000 types of noodles in China. It\u2019s incredible. Every type has its own distinct flavor and ingredients,\u201d Ahmed told Arab News on the sidelines of CreatorWeek Macao, one of the largest creator economy events in Asia.
\n\u201cI made that video just for me. But the next day, people came knocking on my door, saying, \u2018your video went viral, you\u2019ve become an influencer, famous!\u2019 It was such a beautiful feeling. It pushed me to move forward with this.\u201d
\nHe continued regularly uploading videos of himself eating, commenting on the food, and interacting with restaurant owners, waiters and other diners. Within a month he had gained more than half a million followers.
\nAhmed has been living in China since the age of 20, after fleeing two wars in the Middle East. His family first left Iraq following the US-led invasion in 2003 and settled in Latakia, Syria. They lived there in relative peace for several years, until the Syrian civil war broke out and Ahmed was severely wounded.
\nAt that time, his uncle who had been living in China for many years, invited him to come.
\nEleven years later, posting under the name \u201cLao Wang in China,\u201d he has become one of the country\u2019s most recognizable content creators, with 38 million followers across major Chinese social media and short-video platforms, including Bilibili, Douyin, Weibo, Kuaishou, Baidu, and Xiaohongshu.
\nHe now hopes to reach audiences beyond China and connect it with the Arab world.
\n\u201cThe program that I present is in Chinese and for the Chinese … Now, I\u2019m trying to do it on YouTube and Facebook, and I hope to put it out in Arabic,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cChina has so many beautiful places, but many people don\u2019t know about them, don\u2019t know the food, the culture. I\u2019ve documented much of it, I\u2019ve traveled to many cities, and I wish my Arab brothers and sisters could get to see it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MACAO Among the many queues of fans waiting to meet their idols at the largest content creator event in Macao, one stands apart and does not seem to end. It is for a man instantly recognizable throughout the Chinese-speaking influencer scene: Iraqi food vlogger Ahmed. Dressed in a suit \u2014 as he typically does in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":513866,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-513836","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n