This past weekend’s iQiyi Scream Awards was basically a popularity contest of the current tableau of high profile mixed with rising stars. There were a lot of liuliangs stars there but it’s usually a pissing contest of who is more popular or has more clout than the other among fandoms. I did get curious and checked out what industry insiders see as the top liuliang amongst the male actors and the top of the food chain with the liuliang stars is none other than Jackson Yee (Yi Yang Qian Xi) who was already big as a member of TFBoys but now thanks to an explosive movie career in the last two years capped off with Full River Red he stands alone on top. Next is Xiao Zhan who has conquered C-dramas and is trying to break into movies. And third in the liuliang actors is none other than Wang Yibo who is following a Jackson Yee playbook already to the T.
This is one of the most wild branded airport looks I recall ever seeing and…
C-drama Strange Tales of Tang Palace (唐宫奇案之血玉韘) was confirmed last week by streaming platform Youku…
It's almost time to find out what's in The Trunk as streaming giant Netflix heads…
So the big November C-drama premiere actually had two high profile dramas arrive on the…
This weekend the promos for Squid Game 2 started rolling out and it's certainly going…
Oh this is a fun question to ponder! A recent hot post has K-netizens heatedly…
This website uses cookies.
View Comments
I like Jackson Yee since watching him in Street Dance of China. Such a talented, unassuming and filial guy.
But I am surprise he tops the list. Must be the target audience that vote for them.
No offends to anyone...just surprised by the ranking only. I am happy for Jackson Yee.
No no jackson yee is really popular in china, it’s not a surprise he is on top
I see... I know Jackson Yee is popular but did not realised he could top Xiao Zhan. But I dont know China well nor how the powerhouse works.
I have to say Jackson Yee is quite well managed. He move on to participate in top variety shows after as he turn adult and then did afew steady supporting roles before leading his own dramas, then swiftly moving to movies. He has achieve good ratings for the movies he was casted in.
Amongst the 3 members of TFBoys, he is definitely in a very good place now. He has strong hold in the all three popular category in China.
@Yuhyi, to your disappoint, XZ is still on the top with everyone else trailing far behind. LOL. Real C-ent insiders would sniff at this fake ranking.
@Yuhyi, to your great disappointment, Xiao Zhan is the current top liuliang trailed far behind by everyone else. Jackson Yee in your own fantasy and imagination. LOL
@Somebody look I’m not fan of jackson yee, never watch anything with him.
But truly when it came to status, jackson still tops. If you’re unconvinced just think of this as difference between movie actor and drama actor in korea. You can also check out his wikipedia to find his award and nominations.
He was second gen liulang with tfboys so he is already famous back then, and added with his success in acting currently.
@Yuhyi, famous as Jackson Yee, he's still not as popular as Xiao Zhan. Whether movie actors are better actors than drama actors is debatable. For example, Wang Yibo has been all focused on movies but he's definitely not a good actor imo. You googled all the liuiangs, 99% results came out telling you it's Xiao Zhan on the top in all polls and ranking. I'm defending my fave but telling a fact.
LOL at "industry insiders". Yuehua's professional fans also call themselves "industry insiders" because they get their salaries from the entertainment agency.
I laughed at the title. This will definitely invite comments. LOL. I have to agree other C fans questioning Koala's information "sources" oftentimes though. If you follow the most popular Chinese SM Douyin closely, you can track popularity indices gathered by the platform. Jackson Yee is rarely on top 1 spot, not even close to the rising liuilaing Deng Wei or Tan Jianci. LOL. Brand names know better who's the top 1 liuliang caus they have the best marketing teams in the business. Just look at how many endorsements and how many brand names these celebrities have in their pocket. Top 1 is still Xiao Zhan, unshakable since 2019. No brainer! He's just being very low key, not posting a lot when he has no dramas premiered.
This is untrue. It's widely known in the industry that Jackson Yee ranks the top on many lists including Forbes China's list. Your bias is showing. I sometimes doubt Koala's sources, but not with this article. I'm actually surprised that Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo's names are included in the top three, since I saw them ranked lower in past lists.
Wang Yibo was actually 2nd on Forbes China list.
Forbes were about asset values, not about popularity. Can you tell the difference? Everyone in China knows Xiao Zhan is currently the top liuliang trailed by Wang Yibo in the past, but not sure about who's the 2nd on the top now. By far, XZ has garnered the most number of endorsements and he's the epitome of luxurious brand names that already made it loud who's the IT Chinese celebrities right now. Xiao Zhan is the ONLY Chinese celebrity covered in international media such as HK based South China Morning Post, NYT, and The Business of Fashion etc, whenever luxurious brands are discussed. International corps know the best whom to recruit to expand their Chinese market. Online voting of ranking manipulated by nugu fans don't matter.
@Marie
He was second on Forbes years ago when conveniently Xiao Zhan suffered the worst cyber violence in Chinese net history. Those days are long gone. These days he is being dropped by the likes of Moncler and he gets the drags of nugu companies.
By the way, Yibo was on main Forbes China list three years in a row but Xiao Zhan never made it.
@Marie, you definitely will be a laughingstock if you used Forbe as an evidence to claim Wang Yibo, not Xiao Zhan, is the #1 liuliang in China. LOL. Even non fans of Xiao Zhan know he's been the top 1 liuliang for years since 2019. All the top Chinese SM data such as Douyin and Weibo prove my statement.
Lmao nonsense.
Dingliu is Xiao Zhan and has been for several years. It's cemented currently and it won't be changing soon. He doesn't attend events like iQiyi because he is too busy with work.
And if you had been checking actual industry insiders Koala instead of paid people, you wouldn't have read that about YYQX but a whole lot of other things that have been happening.
Yibo isn't third any longer. He is dropping steadily because of his DI issues and some other stuff. YH is trying hard by throwing money at many but again, if you had actually read what industry insiders are saying, it sure would not have been him there.
Person who is doing great and rising is Tan Jianci and that too would have been noticed by actual, non paid, posters.
The difference between Jackson Yee and Xiao Zhan is like heaven and earth. Jackson Yee being a heaven in this case of course. Not only has he good word of mouth among gp thanks to TFBoys, he has awards and great box office results. He deserves the first place over Xiao Zhan and anyone thinking otherwise is delusional. Fans shouldn't confuse Weibo data with real results.
@Vic
That is just so embarrassing but apart from being embarrassing, it is actually hilarious considering what is going on in China right now.
Keep going, it's fantastic.
Just curious, what are DI issues? No offends intended, I am just curious what DI is?
@HL
DI - Desperate illiterate.
Wang Yibo is well known as that in China after a series of problems escalated into a total fiasco during the Anonymous road shows. His disastrous answers finally couldn't be ignored. It is so bad that the whole topic was mentioned at the annual CCP congress and it is still current because one of the CCTV upper tier people just talked about it extensively in a conference and how actors of that kind should not be allowed to appear.
Of course WYB fans play dumb but take a look when his last drama (produced by his own Yuehua) was finished. It has been months and no work. The only person willing is Cheng Er, the director from one of the movies but that's not going to be under Bona who has also dropped him but his own company.
@Smh, Oh, I did hear he seem to have problems with Chinese literacy. Thanks!!!
I already know that you lack arguments. Jackson Yee has top resources, his acting is praised, he has 90M followers on Weibo. In comparision what does Xiao Zhan have that makes him better? If you told anyone in China that Xiao Zhan is more popular, they would just laugh at you.
@Vic
True. He tops several lists and has for the last few years. In comparison XZ is just not there. And I'm not a XZ hater. Just stating facts. Jackson Yee has won major awards and critical acclaim in the movie industry. XZ is still trying to break into the movie industry.
@Vic
No, he was never bigger traffic. He had amazing resources and very good achievements, yes but as traffic XZ was still above him. There is a difference in those two things.
Of course as I said above, that's all over now anyway. Fun times.
@Vic In terms of liuliang, XZ is definitely the top. The number of Weibo followers doesn't mean anything, they can be bought. What matters more is the number of active users interacting with the celebrity's account such as retweets, likes and comments. If this article was about who has top resources or box office numbers, then yes, I'll agree for Jackson Yee to be ranked higher. But this article was about top liuliang, so it doesn't make sense for anyone to be ranked higher than XZ.
It's so rare I agree with Smh on this. LOL.
Based upon all I read, either from China state media, or SM like Douyin and Weibo, or C-ent "insiders" like Yu Zheng, Xiao Zhan as the top liuliang is still unbeatable. Yu Zheng once commented that "if Xiao Zhan were not considered the top liuliang, then who could be?"
@Somebody
We had to agree at least once lmao
We are correct though. Tbh I don't think these people even understand what liuliang is in China.
Sorry to burst your bubble but Wang Yibo got nominated for Golden Rooster Awards and became the youngest male nominee this year among the big names and seniors, it's hilarious that you think any made up hate campaigns could affect him when he's filming an art film these days...
@Marie
Yes, Yibo is so amazing that nobody has wanted to work with him for over 6 months now and the only person who does is Cheng Er. Though he has been sued so I guess the famous Mermaid will have to wait.
Such an amazing Golden Rooster nom that there was a major backlash against him. Lmao your golden boy is poison. Enjoy it.
@Oi, you know what surprised me....it was not seeing Wang Yibo in Street Dance of China S6. I was taken aback he was not in the show at all. But since he won so many season, the PDs must feel a fresh new team is better. I love the current 3 Captains. They are just super cool!!!
Cheng Er is now a Golden Rooster Awards winner, and just yesterday GQ editor in chief talked about the script of Yibo's current movie and future promotion in GQ. Xiao Zhan's fans shouldn't worry so much about Yibo's filming. Your fave's movie couldn't find investment and they used Yibo's data in the presentation. The filming is delayed and they won't manage to release it on CNY unless they want to release without a postproduction. Netizens also said that Xiao Zhan was scolded by a director every day, and his own fans worry that his spotlight will get taken again by that young actor from Sunshine drama because apparently he's in the movie as well. Xiao Zhan still didn't finish filming but he's taking week long breaks regularly and even when he's on set he's filming only three days a week. His several body doubles are doing all the work. Don't talk on a Golden Rooster nominee when your fave is sweeping the floor with a golden broom for most disappointing actor after his debut movie in 2019.
@Marie Movie couldn't find investment, using someone else's data in presentation, filming is delayed, scolded by director everyday, worried spotlight will get taken, taking week long breaks regularly, several body doubles doing all the work...Sounds like you are talking about Wang Yibo instead. As usual, Wang Yibo's fans love pushing their idol's dirty waters to XZ.
It's proven that Xiao Zhan's movie team used Yibo's data, the photos from the investment meeting are all over the Weibo but obviously not posted by yxhs belonging to Xiao Zhan's studio. Xiao Zhan's fans cursed his co-star from Sunshine drama on Weibo after seeing that the younger actor's IP was at the same location where the movie was filmed. They said that he's going to get added screentime again. Yibo is doing his own stunts and bts vids prove that, but Xiao Zhan isn't athletic at all and can't handle martial arts or horse riding properly, leading to many NGs and hiring more stuntmen. All the directors who worked with Yibo in the recent years said that they would like to cooperate again. Yibo's art film is going to wrap up this year, but the movie is aiming for international festivals not CNY slot. Xiao Zhan's movie needs at least a month of postproduction and it's a bare minimum for this genre but they're yet to wrap up.
@Marie LMAO at photos from investment meeting, as if real industry insiders will leak such things. Everything you said about XZ and WYB, just need to switch their names around then they become truth.
@Marie
The only thing proven is that toilets aka WYB fans as the rest of China calls you can't read.
You think a random media account on Weibo that is farming engagement is a producer of a Tsui Hark movie that is being financed by China film. You are not just illiterate like your idol, you are dumb as a rocks.
Also please don't ascribe WYB's attitude when filming to XZ.
@Marie, I'm so amused by the level of your ignorance and arrogance. For once, I'm so much on the same page as others who used to argue fervently with me. LMAO. What dis- or mis-information you gleaned from XZ antis doesn't count. Just read financial news about WYB's agency and you'll get the real idea of how serious they are in trouble now. Yuehua Entertainment has reported losses of $0.18 billion for the 1st half of 2023 based upon their own financial statement that has to be disclosed at HK stock exchange. Yuehua is reportedly running many other non-entertainment business including raising pig farms. LMAO. If their artists, specifically the one contributing the most significantly to the agency's financial sources, had been doing well enough, then the agency wouldn't have been running so many side jobs. LOL. The information I read was reported by serious financial news. It's all public and verified.
You can believe and spread the fallacy about Xiao Zhan vs. Wang Yibo as all you wish. But that won't change the preceding facts that savvy ppl can immediately tell what's really going on. And you're just looking ludicrously laughable with all the pre-school-ish comments.
Uh, I think Tan Jianci is more popular than Jackson right now. You should look at his current endorsements and all the fan stuff happening everywhere.
Are you talking about internationally? In china, jackson yee has the top resources. He achieved biggest success in movies among young actors.
There’s no way you can compare him to tan jianci. Tan jianci status should be similar to gongjun after word of honor, he still need few more works to cement his liuliang status.
What are even the standards of those assessments? I'd say that Wu Lei suits this top three better than Xiao Zhan because Wu Lei has hit dramas and good results in movies, international festivals included. Xiao Zhan's dramas didn't achieve great results this year and his upcoming movie's results remain to be seen.
Your fan feelings have nothing to do with actual results and data.
Wu Lei can't beat out Tan Jianci currently, nor Cheng Yi, never mind approaching someone like Xiao Zhan who is way beyond anyone else (YM was a major TV success, I don't get the point of lying about stuff like this).
I know people like their idols but the amount of second hand embarrassment that makes me feel sure is something.
Cheng Yi has a great year and Tian Jianci is definitely on the rise but Wu Lei is successful outside fan circles, he has a mainstream career that goes beyond mere data, just like Jackson Yee. In comparision to them, your idol Xiao Zhan only has a fan circle popularity. If you ask a random Chinese person on the street, they'll definitely know Wu Lei, Jackson Yee and their works. But the same can't be said about Xiao Zhan. Claiming that he's above others is embarrassing. He can't compare with those who have a long and sustainable career with both fan circle and general public popularity. Xiao Zhan's fans are delusional about his status but it has nothing to do with reality.
@Vic, I see, so 'liuliang' rating is not based on the number of strong fans they have. It is based on the true value of the artiste based on their achievements?
I did think it was Xiao Zhan has he has such a great number of fans thus his commercial value is higher then Jackson Yee. But if we look at achievements, Xiao Zhan is no where near what Jackson Yee have achieve as he started young as FBoys and they were China's top boyband for years. And he have been very careful what project he picks and have good results in those projects he take on.
@HL, LOL. If you ask anyone on streets in China who's the current IT liuliang star, they would definitely give you the right answer: Xiao Zhan ! One way to see how popular someone is popular in that region is to watch whose face is plastered all over each corner. That's no doubt XZ is THE face everywhere Chinese passersby are seeing every day. LOL
Fans of certain idols are delusional. That's not healthy!
@Somebody, I will be frank, I have never been to China, I know lots of Chinese and being one myself but I dont have mainland Chinese friends.I am not against making friends with them but they do tend to keep to themselves. Thus I will never get the chance to ask anyone on the streets. I can only read what is online and rest forums or blogs on such news.
I know Xiao Zhan is popular...but I too know Xiao Zhan is not near where he really wants to be. He is still working hard to get there. No fault of himself but his old management company have messed him up and freeze him in his early years for so long, he losts many opportunities. He fortunately fought hard to gain back control but all at a cost too. He is now in much better hands and more self control which is good. But his journey is still long.
I am not saying he is not popular but his popularity is not steadfast and secure as yet. He is not in the position of getting all the good resources Jackson Yee, Wu Lei has due to their ties with big time industry grassroots players. That is a fact... You cannot not see this. But we know Xiao Zhan's strong fandom will help him move towards his goal, the moment he can secure a big movie hit. His foot will be one step closer to where he wants to be.
Xiao Zhan's journey is still young in comparsion to Jackson Yee and Wi Lei, but that is not saying he cannot reach there. I love how he is shedding his pretty idol boy image to a more manly and edgy look. That will be better for his next career stage. I hope his first movie will be a big hit.
@HL
Wu Lei has only had flops after LLTG, just some of different degrees. That movie was especially dire. He does have connections from when he was a child star but so far it isn't translating to any particular success at all. Whether it will in the future remains to be seen. Maybe that Snow drama, it seems better than the previous one.
And liuliang or traffic is about popularity and transferring that into money. There is only one God of Wealth in China and that is Xiao Zhan. Jackson's success is great but it's not traffic in the same degree. Here we are talking about traffic and not awards, no matter how much the person above is trying to muddy the waters.
@Somebody, Lol. I am not embarrassed by my ignorance. Since I learnt now, good to know something. But even if I dont know or get it wrong. I still get on with my happy day to day life. Non of the 'liuliang' means anything to my lifestyle. I am not going to be buying any brands these 'liuliang' endorse. So I am not really a fan of any idols by any standard.
As for Xiao Zhan's dramas, amongst all his dramas, some are great, some are not. Does this affect his liuliang? No really, at least not to his fans. He is popular because many fans love his looks. He can sing well too, but that is not something people take about, no. He is a great designer...that is his artistic skill but does that make him famous, not so too.
It is all down to his looks and his personality. I am not embarrass to say I too like his looks. But if a drama that he stars in is boring, I too will move on to the next show. It does not make me like him any less.
@HL, as much I've been critical of Cdrama and actors on a daily basis, I personally recognize XZ's acting talent and his acting range that is rare in C-ent. You have your own taste. But sorry to say it's not all the best from my perspective. It's just your personal reference and therefore your assessment of XZ and comparison with other actors only speak for yourselves, not a universally recognized opinion.
I checked Jackson Yee's movie and drama. I'm not particularly impressed, tbh. It's just somehow he's very resourceful perhaps with strong family background (that always works wonder in China) as his backing all the time and got famous at a very young age. But Jackson Yee IMO is very limited in terms of visuals and acting range. His visuals are even mocked a lot by C netizens. Only his staunch fans see his beauty. LMAO. As to his acting, it's yet to see how far he can go on with a long-life career path cos I saw he's pretty limited when he did that drama with just a few eps. My understanding is that Cdrama is way more lucrative and influential than C movie that the latter usually incurs more losses than profits thanks to higher upfront production costs. Movies have higher investment risks than dramas, specifically during this time when China has been experiencing great economic owes recently. C-ent doesn't work the same way as other ent industries including Hollywood or HK. Investors bet on the most profitable sectors with quick turn-around. In this case, Cdrama is the one, not C movies that have very limited markets outside China. Therefore, every Chinese actor is vying for the top place in Cdrama, not C movie. Cdrama is actually a more cut-throat sector than Cmovie. People who found them not as successful as expected nor as competitive in personality usually chose to withdraw from Cdrama to C movies if they also happen to have opportunities for the latter. I can see this in several actors' cases including Wang Yibo, Wu Lei (potentially), and also Wang Haoran (?). And that's why Yu Zheng once sarcastically insinuated that Wu Lei may need to crawl back to film dramas again after exploring movie sector. Endorsements also search spokespeople first through Cdrama, Cpop, and then Cmovie because they know Cdrama in China just resembles Kpop in terms of popularity and cultural influence. Cdrama reaches to a wider population than other C-ent sectors.
Saying movie actors are superior to drama actors is obviously a very outdated conception and very shallow from artistic points of view. I'm not gonna argue with you XZ is better than your faves since I'm his fan and he's the only Chinese actor I really get to appreciate among so many I actually dismiss. I won't be impartial when it comes to Xiao Zhan. But equally you're biased at best. Therefore, you don't have to reiterate Jackson or Wu Lei or whoever's performances vs XZ's accomplishment caus they did not get your points out effective nor are you convincing with your own assessment. They have their own career paths that aren't comparable at all. But the logic of your argument just shows that how biased you are and how ignorant you're of the definition of actor's achievement. You don't need to feel embarrassed since I have no intent to embarrass you either. But you need to know some facts from different perspectives, not basing your opinions on your own feelings as a fan of particular artists. I'm just compelled to throw these facts in your face. Sorry for my American way if that irritates you. We have less reservation about spelling out truth regardless of if we're talking to a junior or a senior. LOL.
@HL
XZ's plan to shed his "pretty idol boy" image to "a more manly and edgy image" will what make him even flopper than ever before.
He doesn't yet give fans the maximum looks of his pretty idol boy (all of his historical fantasy characters either have repetitive bad clothings like Wei Wuxian/Tang San or have repetitive bad hairlines + hairlines like Shi Ying/Moran). Fans will come to collect his debt to them.
Xiao Zhan will keep his pretty idol boy look both in his face and style till he's 40 and he will pay his debt to fans, simply because the entire world and fans will force him to. I will make him to pay his debt to fans. He must have a character that wear both good long-flowing sleeves hanfu and natural-looking hair with bangs.
@Hm, this is what confuses me. I also thought Liuliang means trending. Trending is based on their current commercial value... wheather it had longevity or not, that is not the point.
It it about current trend. Just as Lu Han was the biggest liuliang at one stage in his career, his commercial value was very high in those days, Kris Wu has his time for a short period, Dilraba is one of the top female liuliang currently, just as Xiao Zhan's is now too. But it is not about their connections or even great number of successful dramas/movies. It is about their huge fandom.
I am really trying to understand what liuliang actually means in China.
Sorry to sound so confused but I can see where 2 sides to the auguments are coming from. I should first understand the true definition of the word "liuliang' .
Yes, you are correct.
Liuliangs are traffic actors, where ding liu is the top liuliang.
It is not connected to awards or anything like that. We are talking about big fan bases that generate a lot of traffic and make a lot of data. Super topics, likes, reposts, voting, buying endorsements. This is why things like fashion resources or big endorsements are mentioned here, there is a lot of money turnover.
So for this, Xiao Zhan is at the top overall for the past few years and Dilraba is top among women.
Though Xiao Zhan at least has already started to shift towards a serious actor. Everybody ages and starting as soon as possible is good.
From what I know, from the earliest four liuliang, whom are wu yifan, luhan, yang yang, and li yifeng, it actually starts as title that means praise and insult at the same time. It means you have achieved huge commercial success but only because of your face. We know how they end, wu yifan and li yifeng got banned, luhan semi retires at his peak popularity, while yang yang lost his top status after criticism against his acting and underperforming movie returns.
Initially netizen had “as long as he is handsome” opinion but after a few years, it was evident face without acting skill is not enough.
The second generation of liuliang is tfboys.
They were very famous, however after they go separate ways and return to study, karry wang and roy wang seems to lost a lot of their popularity. Because they focused more on music, which is less profitable than drama or movie. This is why I think liuliang status starts to shift into something similar to blue chip stocks.
The third gen is xiao zhan and wang yibo with the untamed. They had huge success and good acting skill, along with having subsequent success. Although their subsequent works never have the same recognition as untamed, their works still performs better above everyone else. This is why they are top liuliang.
Next are gong jun and zhang zhehan, predicted to become top liuliang, however zhang zhehan got banned, while gong jun subsequent drama did not achieve commercial success.
Award, nomination, actually doesn’t really translate to popularity, but it’s the hardest thing to get for liuliang actors. Having award means their works live up to their ability and popularity. And the award I mean is the three top award in china, not participation award like those iqiyi scream night recently.
If we think from the angle that liuliang is title given by investors, then movie success gives additional reliability point, that even passerby believe in the ability of the actor and would pay money to watch it
@Hm, thank you very much or your explanation. I understand what 'liuliang' is now.
@HL, I have to be blunt about your ignorance (sorry for the wording) of real liuliangs in China. I just get straight to the point: The current top liuliang is Xiao Zhan by no mistake and that's being publicly recognized by C-ent. I surely have no hard statistics off hand to prove you that. But if you just google liuliang （流量）in Chinese, 99% of the results came back out telling you it's Xiao Zhan in all ranking and polls. It's nothing to do with how resourceful a celebrity is in the industry to get projects. Besides, Xiao Zhan has had great resources after 227. Production teams have been lining up to offer him scripts and brand names are competing for his endorsements too. Whether he's got fun dramas interesting to you is not a factor to decide if he's on top of the liuliang, but popularity indices and financial data related to the products he endorses are. And those data show that he IS indeed the top liuliang. Xiao Zhan is the epitome of Chinese celebrities endorsing international brand names and he is the ONLY Chinese name associated with international media coverage of fashion news and luxurious goods. Foreign media only unanimously picked the most popular celebrity of the talked country to cover, e.g., BTS in S Korea. Xiao Zhan is BTS in China. You like it or not. LOL
Sorry how you feel about Xiao Zhan's dramas isn't important at all. That's your personal preference and it doesn't speak of the facts. I'm telling you the fact: Xiao Zhan is indeed the #1 liuliang in China now.
I actually think Koala once again deliberately posted misinformation with eye-rolling title to attract comments. LMAO. She's always like that when it comes to Xiao Zhan.
Xiao Zhan's fans can't accept anyone else being the top liuliang actor but the most important thing for the actor's popularity is acting and drama or movie projects. Bringing up endorsements or fashion resources doesn't make sense. Even if passerbys see your idol's face on brand posters it doesn't mean they watch his works. Jackson Yee has many mainstream projects known to general public. The longest day in Chang'an, The battle at Lake Changjin, Better days, Nice view. He's an actor and he's known for his acting. His filmography and popularity as an actor is clearly superior to that of Xiao Zhan so he deserves the first spot.
It does make sense and you are the one who is mixing things up.
Top liuliang has nothing to do with awards. JY does have more recognised works but that's not what makes a top liuliang. In China, top traffic is connected to exactly what is being mentioned, which is endorsements, fashion resources, social buzz, moving money etc.
Nobody thinks about JY as top ll in China. As for XZ he is a top ll that is making his way up the acting path and very successfully after this summer and Youth Memories as he doesn't want to stay traffic which is of course smart. He is not as good as JY in this area yet. You need to separate these two things.
@Vic, LOL. You're the one getting confused yourself about liuliang and also trying to confuse ppl. LMAO. Jackson who???? I don't know JY and had never heard of his name outside China. But at least I heard about Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo before. LOL. Not many drama fans care about Jackson Yee. Only his fangirls do. You can hard sell his acting or movies or whatnot. But it doesn't change the fact that he's far from being the top 1 liuliang.
Your knowledge about c-ent is too limited, you watched a few dramas and think that you have any idea about Chinese entertainment industry. You definitely have to live under a rock to not know about Jackson Yee. I could say the same back at you, only Xiao Zhan's fangirls care about him but Jackson Yee has a fandom and general public support. It's much more important than online data that can be easily manipulated and can't be used as a proof of real populartity. You also mentioned drama fans, but there are many dramas that did much better this year than Xiao Zhan's dramas in China and internationally, so those dramas with less popular actors can attract more attention than your 'top liuliang's' works? If we use your own logic, his results should be the best so he's either not a top liuliang or his projects are uninteresting for the viewers. Pick yourself.
@Vic Jackson Yee is not well-known among international audience because he mostly did movies, and Chinese movies aren't popular outside of China anymore. Even if a non-fan happened to watch one, they wouldn't take much notice of the actors/actresses unless it's some famous names like Jackie Chan or Jet Li. C-dramas have more international clout than C-movies now.
And don't forget, most of Jackson Yee's box office numbers aren't 1st billing. Although C-movies count box office numbers up to the 3rd billing, it's a fact that most of his movies had bigger names as 1st billing to attract viewers so it's hard to say he has general public support. Plus his image had taken a huge dent with his National Theatre civil servant/special privileges controversy and he had been lying low for awhile now.
@Vic, talking about popularity alone, you're obvious delirious ignoring the fact the top liuiang is XZ no doubt. Futile debate about whose dramas are better and which actors are better or whatnot since we all have different preference and we just rave our own faves to the Milk Way but trash others down the toilet. LMAO. It's ok we all have our own biases. Nonetheless, in terms of traffic liuliang, there are indeed objective marketing measures to gauge popularity and market power based upon hard data and statistics. Those financial measures prove the current top liuliang in China is XZ without questions. It's reiterated many many times not only inside China but also in the international media covered across different countries. Living in the US, I was amazed how popular XZ was and how many international fans he already had years ago because of The Untamed even when I wasn't his fan back then. XZ is the only Chinese celebrity who has noticeable international presence right now. Your faves are far from his status in that sense. XZ is also the ONLY face of Chinese celebrities in the international media covering fashion styles and luxurious goods, just like they always brought up BTS or Blackpink related to K-ent market influence since they are the most sought-after spokespeople for brands in their home countries. These international brand names and media covering styles/fashion/luxury know the best who's really popular.
I bet without Xiao Zhan's name even popped up in the blog title, there would have been just a handful comments regarding Jackson Yee and whoever. LOL. No offense.
@Lilith
About that last sentence, go to Douban. There is way more happening since a few days ago.
@Smh I haven't visit Douban recently, care to update me on what's it about?
@Lilith
That lying low you mentioned turned worse. Looks like he wanted to try a comeback of a sort for his birthday and it blew up in his face. His birthday support has been removed and then they started removing some of his other stuff too. It's all blocked on Weibo but Douban is still talking about it. The guy from his family who got caught looks to be really making it worse for him. Idk what is going to happen.
@Smh I see. Yeah there's no word of it at all on Weibo. I only saw some of the YXHs which I've followed posting about his birthday and sending him birthday wishes.
I'm surprised too. I would think the other 2 would be 1st by the way their fans claim with who gets most ads, most revenue, most box office. But honestly, of all 3, i personally think Jackson Yee is the best actor eventho he's young. He has gravitas and will make a fine character actor in movies.
Not a fan of any of these people (or anyone really). But I will say that living in the US, I was really surprised to see Xiao Zhan in Tod's ads in the elevator of a luxury mall. It wasn't a giant bill board or anything, but it was a pleasant surprise to see Chinese representation.
I will never understand the animosity between the XZ and WYB Fandoms.
There are many theories that WYB's agency was behind 227 bully of XZ. WYB's endorsements got exorbitantly exploded to 40+ in 2020-2021 while XZ's career almost tanked. There seem to be many conflicts of interest between these two even the levels of acting talent are apparently not on par. LOL. As a XZ fan, I've read enough malicious attacks and nonsense crap coming from WYB's fans. Surely they have left a very foul taste in my mouth. But equally, some XZ's fans are not lenient fighting back either. Xfx (XZ's fandom name) is as fierce as Army for BTS. LOL. I personally would keep away from these two fandoms if possible.
It is simple. WYB fans are trash. In China, they are collectively called toilets by every other fan group in existence. Everyone loathes them. The things they have done throughout these few years go beyond anything else. From threatening ZLY's child's life to the things they did to XZ and his family. I still remember the amazing moments like livestreaming harassing the crematorium that held his late grandfather's body because they wanted to prove the poor man hadn't died to harassing the hospital where his mother was after the death of her father to editing fake videos about his late grandfather to smear the man. How about planning to get a person infected with COVID into a hotel where XZ was staying because they could give it to him? And there are many many more. Toilets is probably the nicest name for them.
Thanks for enlightening me about "toile" that I got what it's meant the first time. LOL. If all you mentioned was true about what'd been done by those rabid bananas, then that fandom truly deserves the bad name.
It’s very simple - it all comes down to fans and resources. When the untamed exploded, XZ,as the main lead and the one with the most acting talent, gained the most popularity and resources from the explosion. Unfortunately for wyb in 2019, he was always no. 2 to XZ’s no. 1. He, his company YH, along with XZ’s other competitors, conspired together to try to remove XZ from c-ent in 2020, leading to the biggest cyber bully against XZ in China. XZ has no capital or backers behind him versus wyb’s capitals and the other many companies that also took part in it. But XZ and his fans persevered and both came out stronger. That’s why his fans are very sticky and have eyes only for him.
You can read more in depth about the parties behind the cyber bully, backed with evidences here: https://xiao-zhan.info/
Thanks for the last link to that website. I already dislike Wang Yibo and his fans just based upon my own observations online the past few months. Although I can't corroborate what's posted on that website, a lot of information did overlap with what I dug out online myself. Sadly there are still many new fans of The Untamed gullible of what they watched on The Untamed BTS videos. For me, it's no brainer that Xiao Zhan was the main lead carrying along The Untamed to huge stardom and the acting ability of WYB vs. XZ is not comparable at all. But for rabid CP fans and WYB's dedicated fans, debunking the fallacy is like taking them out of drug addition - almost missions impossible. LOL.
But please do share that link as much as possible. I'm personally not able to copy paste any weblinks on many SM. Idk why.