Jiang Yilei (; born February 17, 1987), known as the online moniker Papi Jiang () is a Chinese comedian known for her comedy on video blogs, where she pokes fun at everyday topics including entertainment news, dating and family relationships.

Early life

Jiang attended China's

Central Academy of Drama The Central Academy of Drama (), abbreviated Zhong Xi (), is a drama school in Beijing, China. It is a Chinese state Double First Class University Plan university identified by the Ministry of Education of China. The school is the first theatre ...

, where she received her bachelor and master degree. She has worked in entertainment as an actor and assistant director. Now, nicknamed "Papi Jiang", she is an

internet celebrity An Internet celebrity (also known as a social media influencer, social media personality, internet personality, or simply influencer) is a celebrity who has acquired or developed their fame and notability through the Internet. The rise of social ...

who shot to fame by posting original sarcastic videos via social media. People called her "the No. 1 Internet Celebrity" in China in 2016. In 2019, she revealed on '' Go Fridge'' that she was the supervisor for Zhou Dongyu's Bachelor thesis, and is the owner/founder/CEO of her own Vlog production company.

Internet celebrity

On April, 1st, 2016, Papi Jiang landed RMB 12 million (USD 1.8 million) from four investors including
Zhen Fund

(真格基金)
and online video show ''Logic Talk Show (罗辑思维)''. Her videos received more than 290 million hits on major media platforms in just four months. Four investors bought a 12% stake for RMB 12 million, valuing Papi Jiang at RMB 100 million, according to Tencent Tech. The anchor of ''Logic Talk Show'', another Chinese cyber celebrity, Luo Zhenyu, was surprised by her quick rise to popularity. He said “Papi Jiang appealed 8 million followers only within a few months, but I obtained 6 million using the past three years through creating stories with rich information”.

Funny videos

One of her most popular videos is a rant about when people in love are engaged in PDA (Public Displays of Affection). She also parodied white-collar young women who gossip about and trash their more attractive colleague for sleeping with the boss. In another series of popular videos she parodies people who talk in a mixture of Shanghai's regional dialect, English and the occasional Japanese phrase. In July 2016 her first live broadcast, a 90-minute video, attracted 74 million views in one day. She was featured in an article in the ''New York Times'' in August 2016.

Influence

Media commented on her recent funding as a sign that China's domestic investors are willing to pay for original content. Posting these satirical videos became her full-time job. She posted on Chinese social media such as

Sina Weibo Sina Weibo (新浪微博) is a Chinese microblogging (weibo) website. Launched by Sina Corporation on 14 August 2009, it is one of the biggest social media platforms in China, with over 582 million monthly active users (252 million daily ac ...

and

Douban Douban.com (), launched on 6 March 2005, is a Chinese online database and social networking service that allows registered users to record information and create content related to film, books, music, recent events, and activities in Chinese cit ...

, as well as via global media such as

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

. In April 2016, China’s broadcast regulator ordered her to clean up the foul language in her videos, which occurs once in a while. They made her take down most of the videos at least temporarily, which was seen as the government’s message that it desires to assert its control over this kind of online content.
Qin, Amy. “China’s Viral Idol: Papi Jiang, a Girl Next Door With Attitude”. ''New York Times''. 24 August 2016 Jiang retracted her apology.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jiang, Papi 1987 births Living people Chinese women comedians Chinese Internet celebrities Central Academy of Drama alumni Actresses from Shanghai Baidu people