Cristiano Ronaldo calls YouTube star IShowSpeed’s China tour ‘amazing trip’

American YouTube star IShowSpeed's recent whirlwind tour in China has gone viral both at home and abroad, sparking widespread discussion. His idol, Cristiano Ronaldo, commented on the tour via the Chinese social media platform Kuaishou, calling it an "amazing trip." 

The 20-year-old content creator, whose real name is Darren Jason Watkins Jr. and whose zesty and contagious shows have won over 38 million subscribers on the social media platform YouTube, embarked on his first tour in China since the end of March, according to the Xinhua News Agency. 

Unlike the bleak and even grim pictures often painted by some Western media, IShowSpeed's unedited and unscripted shows reveal a China that is perky, diverse, hospitable and prosperous, Xinhua said. 

He held several live-streaming sessions in cities such as Beijing, Southwest China's Chongqing, and Changsha in Central China's Hunan Province, and his live-streaming event in Changsha, after joining domestic platforms, attracted 47.21 million viewers and gained over 700,000 new followers in just one day, the Hangzhou Daily reported on Wednesday. 

IShowSpeed met Cristiano Ronaldo, his idol, in person in 2023, Spain's sport newspaper Marca reported in June 2023. The media report said "IShowSpeed's extreme fanaticism for Cristiano Ronaldo had gone around the world."

As of Wednesday, the IShowSpeed account on Douyin (the Chinese version of TikTok) had 4.11 million followers with more than 8 million likes, as the platform showed. He also launched an account on RedNote, also known as Xiaohongshu on Monday, which has gained over 577,800 fans.