While he may not have many followers on Sina Weibo, Ren Hailong, a migrant worker from Henan Province, made headlines in Party paper the People’s Daily in December 2020 as a young model worker. An ex-serviceman, Ren, now 26, found online fame in October 2019 when he posted a short video from his job at a shipyard in Dalian, northeastern China’s Liaoning Province. Face covered in soot, Ren had just knocked off after a long day, but he looked very excited. “I earned 300 yuan (US$46) today... It would be awesome if I could earn 300 yuan every day, then I could take my uncle [who raised me] traveling...” he said in the video. He soon gained attention nationwide for his winning smile and work ethic. Ren eventually left the shipyard, which he said he didn’t like, to livestream full-time in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. There he encourages young people like himself to never give up on their dreams. Ren has more than one million followers on short-video platform Douyin, and told media that he had to work harder than ever to learn his new occupation from scratch. “Keep peace in your heart and never be frivolous,” reads his profile on Weibo.
Old Version
