Andy Lau gains 50 million followers on his maiden entry into social media

Hong Kong — Hong Kong Heavenly King Andy Lau has garnered over 50 million followers on Douyin less than a week after opening an account. Douyin is a Chinese social media network service similar to TikTok. Malay Mail reported Chinese portal China.org.cn on February 1 as saying that Lau had never opened a social network account on any platform before but has since changed his mind and has opened his first social network account on Douyin.

The portal reported that on Wednesday, Lau’s new move became a cultural phenomenon, creating a nationwide carnival buzz.

It added that in just 24 hours, Lau was followed by more than 24 million followers, from fans to his peers. Lau is set to become one of the most followed individuals on Douyin. Malay Mail reported that Lau had posted five videos since last Wednesday and has received a total of 87 million likes.

The portal also reported that Lau is said to be an old-school entertainer who previously said he didn’t fall for online communications gimmicks.

“Only using text creates no warmth, I don’t know how to communicate with others by that means,” he was previously quoted as saying.

In his 40-year career in showbiz, Lau has acted in more than 160 films, made nearly 80 music records and invested in about 30 film projects.

“Lau joins more than 3,000 entertainers in registering accounts on Douyin, including Zhang Ziyi, JJ Lin, Eason Chan and Lay Zhang, according to an entertainment white paper issued by the app company under the Chinese technology and social media giant ByteDance,” the portal added.

Born on September 27, 1961, Andy Lau Tak-wah is a Hong Kong actor, singer-songwriter and film producer. He has been one of Hong Kong’s most commercially successful film actors since the mid-1980s, performing in more than 160 films while maintaining a successful singing career at the same time. In the 1990s, Lau was branded by the media as one of the Four Heavenly Kings of Cantopop and was named as “Fourth Tiger” among the Five Tiger Generals of TVB during the 1980s.