"He's doing God's work by breaking Western propaganda": US YouTuber goes viral in China with 'unfiltered' visit to the country.

By Guilherme Paladino, from Beijing, for 247 - One of the biggest internet phenomena in the world today, the American YouTuber and streamer Darren Watkins Jr., popularly known as "IShowSpeed," has attracted a great deal of attention over the past week with his series of live streams exploring China – even drawing the attention of the Chinese Communist Party and local media and influencers.

With over 113 million followers across his YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter profiles, the 20-year-old focuses on entertainment and humor content in the style of "Generation Z." Known for his "explosive" charisma, Speed ​​became famous reacting to online videos, interacting with his live chat, and participating in content with soccer players and world stars.

Over the past two and a half years, the YouTuber, born in Ohio, USA, decided to start a series of broadcasts known as "irl (in real life"In real life," or, in Portuguese, "na vida real" (in Portuguese), involves traveling to other countries and broadcasting live from the streets, having fun with the local audience and exploring the cultural elements of the surroundings. With broadcasts that can last more than six hours, Speed ​​has already introduced his audience to countries such as India, South Korea, Japan, Vietnam, as well as various other locations in Southeast Asia, Europe, and South America—including Brazil.

The friendly American streamer, however, had never visited the world's second-largest economic power. Early last week, that changed: Speed ​​began a long series of videos exploring the Asian giant, reaching the top of YouTube's "Trending" tab and generating even geopolitical repercussions.

To date, the YouTuber has conducted 4 live streams in the country - averaging five hours per live appearance - and has accumulated a total of over 26 million views (excluding millions of views on excerpts from the streams published separately on other social media platforms).

Chinese repercussions

The attention drawn was so great that the Chinese Embassy in the US itself – which recently went so far as to say that the Asian giant would be ready for "any kind of war with the United States" – made a post on social media in honor of the YouTuber.

"The popular 20-year-old American YouTuber IShowSpeed ​​has embarked on a journey in China that has already attracted enormous global attention, indicating a broader trend of digital influencers bridging cultural gaps and creating alternative channels for foreign audiences to understand a vibrant China," the Embassy wrote on Twitter, adding videos of Speed ​​impressed by the structure of Chinese cities to the post.

Furthermore, Chinese state media, such as Global TimesCGTN, China Daily, and Xinhua also began reporting on the broadcasts of the American influencer. text published this Monday (31)The China Daily highlighted that Speed's videos "show the world an unfiltered China." Global TimesOn report from last Wednesday (26)He pointed out that "IShowSpeed's adventure in China represents a trend of influencers building bridges across cultural distances and offers an unfiltered glimpse into the country."

An excerpt from a report from the South China Morning Post It also caught the attention of several geopolitical profiles on Western social media for revealing that the YouTuber "is being hailed by Chinese government officials [...] as evidence of a growing desire for mutual understanding between Americans and Chinese, amid rising trade tensions."

Outside of official media outlets, the general Chinese public – especially younger people – has also reacted massively to Speed's presence in the country. On the streets, the influencer's walks generate crowds of Chinese people who ask for photos and give him gifts; on social media, the streamer has consistently reached trending topics on apps like "Weibo" [Learn more about Weibo by clicking here.and gained over 1 million followers in just four days after creating an official profile on "Douyin" (the Chinese version of TikTok).

"This man is doing God's work. In just six hours, he eliminated all the negative propaganda from Western media about China," stated influencer Li Sanjin (李三金), who has over 554 followers on Weibo, in a video posted on the platform last Wednesday.

more to come

In his four broadcasts so far, Speed ​​has already visited the cities of Shanghai, Beijing, and Chengdu, where he strolled through the streets, rode subway trains, watched cultural performances, underwent Shaolin training, and visited historical sites such as the Great Wall and the Forbidden City.

The video series in China is already one of the influencer's longest and is expected to continue for at least the next week. In his most recent broadcast, in Sichuan province (the birthplace of pandas), the YouTuber promised more episodes: "There's more to come. We're going to Chongqing, Hong Kong, and Shenzhen. The tour in China has been incredible so far, and I'm very happy that everyone is enjoying it too."

Furthermore, during one of his recent broadcasts, Speed ​​also revealed that he had received a ten-year visa from the Chinese government to be able to return to the country: "I will return [to China]. I have a ten-year visa in my passport."