Afu Thomas

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"Afu" Thomas
阿福
Born
Thomas Derksen

(1988-10-26) 26 October 1988 (age 35)
Gummersbach, Germany
Other namesDe Fulong
CitizenshipGermany
EducationEngelbert-von-Berg-Gymnasium Wipperfürth
Alma materRuhr University Bochum
Years active2016–present
Spouse
Jolie Liping Zhu-Derksen (朱莉萍)
​
​
(m. 2013)​
Chinese name: De Fulong
Simplified Chinese德福龙
Traditional Chinese德福龍
Nickname: Afu
Chinese阿福

Thomas Derksen (born 26 October 1988[1]), known as "Afu" Thomas (Chinese: 阿福Thomas), is a German internet celebrity active in China.

Biography

Afu was born as Thomas Derksen, on 26 October 1988, into a Aussiedler family in Gummersbach, Germany,[1] which later moved to Marienheide where Afu was raised.[2] He is the youngest of six children of Maria, a chef,[3] and Peter Derksen,[3] an engineer, preceded by three brothers and two sisters. He is of Volga German descent, his ancestors emigrated to Russia with Catherine the Great.[3] His family returned to Germany from the Soviet Union in 1987, and Afu is the only child of his parents who was born in Germany.[3]

As a student at Engelbert-von-Berg-Gymnasium Wipperfürth, he took Chinese for two years there and did a student exchange trip to China in 2007, his first time in the country. After briefly working in banking at Kreissparkasse Köln [de] he studied at Ruhr University Bochum, taking courses about business and Chinese. From 2013 to 2014, he attended Fudan University,[1] and has lived in Shanghai since 2016.[2] He is fluent in Mandarin and has been learning the Shanghainese dialect.[4]

His videos depict his experiences in Shanghai.[2] His wife and two employees help Derksen manage his social media profile,[5] including Bilibili,[2] Meipai [zh], Tencent QQ, and Sina Weibo.[5] He has expressed an interest in the Chinese e-commerce model,[6] writing a letter in 2017 to German Chancellor Angela Merkel on how Germany could follow China in its cashless payment system.[7][8] In June 2019, he was reported to have 15 million fans in the country.[9]

In February 2020, he uploaded a video interview with German virologist Rolf Hilgenfeld [de] who was in China at the time to assist with the COVID-19 situation; the video garnered more than 3.2 million views on Bilibili. He later followed with a video (where he spoke English instead of Chinese or German) titled "Fight the Virus not China".[10][11][12]

Books

  • Und täglich grüßt der Tigervater: Als deutscher Schwiegersohn in China, 2018, ISNB 978-3-641-23907-7
  • Kartoffelbrei mit Stäbchen: drei Chinesen, fünf Länder, sieben Tage – mit meiner chinesischen Familie auf Hochzeitsreise in Europa, 2021, ISBN 978-3-453-60573-2

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Bio". Afu Thomas Official Website. Retrieved 2020-02-08. - German version
  2. ^ a b c d Fu, Beimeng (2016-04-07). "This German Man Is China's Newest Internet Celebrity, Believe It Or Not". Buzzfeed News. Retrieved 2020-02-09.
  3. ^ a b c d Afu Thomas (12 November 2017). "这里是中国，对面竟然是俄罗斯？！ 【德国家庭的中国俄羅斯边境之旅】". YouTube (in Chinese). Retrieved 29 August 2022.
  4. ^ "Interview: German guys turned into Chinese Internet celebrities". Deutsche Welle (in Chinese). May 28, 2016.
  5. ^ a b "Big in Shanghai – German Internet Star Thomas Derksen". Deutsche Welle. 2017-05-29. - German version: "Ein deutscher Internetstar in Shanghai"
  6. ^ "Afu, a German Internet celebrity: I want to bring Chinese online shopping home". Xinhua. 2017-08-23. Archived from the original on August 7, 2020. Retrieved 2020-02-08.
  7. ^ Dave Hicks (September 11, 2017). "How China's Famous Foreigners Double as Diplomats". Sixth Tone.
  8. ^ Lea Deuber (July 26, 2019). "Rudi Carrell for the Chinese". Süddeutsche Zeitung (in German).
  9. ^ "15 million fans - This German is famous in China". Galileo (in German). June 17, 2019.
  10. ^ "Fudan Alumnus from Germany becomes online influencer in Shanghai". Fudan University. July 30, 2020. Retrieved 2020-12-16.
  11. ^ Thomas阿福 (February 3, 2020). "CORONAVIRUS | Don't isolate CHINA, isolate the VIRUS 隔离病毒，不隔离爱". Retrieved 2020-12-16.
  12. ^ "Concerned about the epidemic | young people on the video platform". Xinhua (in Chinese). 2020-02-03. Archived from the original on February 3, 2020.

Further reading

External links


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