Chinese comics head abroad, winning Gen Z’s hearts overseas

Pormotional material for I Am Nobody Photo: Courtesy of Youku

Recently, at the Hero Comic Con at the Brussels Expo, Belgium, a Polish girl dressed up as Zhang Lingyu from China's pop comic series The Outcast caught the attention of many spectators. Dressed in a white Taoist robe with silver hair, she exuded a strong Chinese style. At the event, she not only showcased Tai Chi moves but also imitated Chinese martial arts alongside Spider-Man and Batman.

More and more cultural productions such as The Outcast, its adapted streaming series I Am Nobody and video games have entered the world of Generation Z overseas, raising their interest and helping them learn more about Chinese culture. 

The Polish girl is not a single case. When I visited central Europe this summer, I saw young people in countries like Hungary were very fond of Chinese popular online game Genshin Impact and even enjoyed gathering together from time to time to cosplay characters from the game. 

Some of them told me that they often felt "related to these Chinese cultural products" as well as being attracted by the splendid contents and interests in Chinese culture, not only martial arts, but also a shared pursuit for "justice and good."

Thanks to China's Belt and Road Initiative, these types of culture exchanges are becoming more and more common as products like streaming series and movies are introduced to the world. 

The popular series I Am Nobody, produced by China's streaming site Youku, has been a hit with its story of a group of young people gifted with super powers fighting shoulder to shoulder to overcome challenges and win the battle between good and evil. 

According to Youku, the series, rated 8.1 out of 10 on Chinese site Douban, has been streamed in over 200 countries and regions worldwide in eight languages, including English, Spanish and Thai. 

Together with its overseas popularity, young overseas audiences show great interest in traditional Chinese culture such as kung fu, yin and yang and architectural landscapes. 

Some of them have turned to community site Reddit for help with more recommendations. 

"Just finished 'I Am Nobody' and now I got C-drama fever," one message said. 

"Been looking around but after scrolling through all those romance dramas I feel the need to reach out to you guys for help, can you guys recommend something similar?"

Others are taking a step further as young Hungarian people not only love Chinese dramas and fantasy dramas like A Dream of Splendor starring actress Liu Yifei, but also voluntarily wrote Hungarian subtitles for these shows. 

Giving time, Chinese comics are quickly on the way to change the comic world with its own heroes who have a Chinese worldview of peace, love and justice.

The author is a reporter with the Global Times