Winston Sterzel
| Winston Sterzel | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Sterzel in Shenzhen, July 2017 | |||||||
| Personal information | |||||||
| Born | August 17, 1980 | ||||||
| Nationality | South African | ||||||
| Occupation | YouTuber | ||||||
| Website | advchina | ||||||
| YouTube information | |||||||
| Channel | |||||||
| Genre | China Vlogs | ||||||
| Subscribers | 636,000[1] | ||||||
| Total views | 104,667,119[1] | ||||||
| Associated acts |
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Last updated: January 20, 2019 | |||||||
Winston Frederick Sterzel, also known by his YouTube pseudonym SerpentZA, is a South African vlogger, and video producer. He has lived in Shenzhen in the Guangdong province of China and later moved to Los Angeles. His videos cover a variety of topics relating to life in China from a Westerner's perspective.
Life and career
Sterzel is of German-British heritage. He was born and grew up in South Africa. He moved to China in his mid-twenties[2][3] to work as an English teacher after first visiting on business in 2005.[4] In 2015, he was one of twelve South Africans in China profiled by China Radio International.[5] He started uploading videos in China in 2007, and became a full-time vlogger in 2016.[6] His videos primarily focus on living in China.[2][3][7][8][9] Sometimes, he interviews people on topics considered controversial by Chinese standards.[6]
Sterzel has also made videos about motorcycle trips through China. With Matthew Tye and other friends, he has taken extended journeys and produced documentary series titled Conquering Southern China[10][11][12] and Conquering Northern China.[12] He and Tye operate the YouTube channel ADVChina, a motorcycle travel vlog.[13] Sterzel was also co-founder of a small, China-based custom motorcycle business, Churchill Custom Motorcycles, that is no longer in business.[9] In late 2018, he indicated that a desire to create "positive content" about China and an encounter with Chinese government officials spurred him to move out of China.[14] Sterzel moved to Los Angeles because he was afraid of losing his life or being incarcerated in China.[15]
See also
- Afu Thomas (Thomas Derksen) - German social media figure in China
- Raz Gal-Or - Israeli social media figure in China
- David Gulasi - Australian internet celebrity active in China
- Amy Lyons - Australian internet celebrity active in China
References
- ^ a b "About SerpentZA". YouTube.
- ^ a b McGeary, Kevin (2014-06-05). "PRD People: Medical Trainer and Online Celebrity Winston Sterzel". The Nanfang. Retrieved 2017-03-19.
- ^ a b Ding, A (9 October 2017). "British YouTuber helps foreigners settle in China". Shenzhen Daily. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
- ^ "My Chinese Life: Winston Sterzel--The Original China Vlogger" (with video). CRIEnglish. 21 May 2015. Retrieved 29 June 2018 – via China.com.
- ^ Kemp, Yunus (26 August 2015). "South Africans find home away from home in China". Xinhua. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
- ^ a b Gidge, Sky (20 December 2016). "Take 5: YouTube Vlogger Winston Sterzel". That's Shenzhen. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
- ^ Yuanyuan, Wang (8 June 2012). "British-South African telling people 'how China is'". Shenzhen Daily. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
- ^ Rossman, Sean (4 May 2018). "Chinese are OK with Utah teen's controversial cheongsam prom dress". USA Today. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
- ^ a b Roberts, Stephen O. (4 January 2015). "Custom Start-Up: Three Expats and A Two-Wheeled Dream". Here! Dongguan. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
- ^ Gidge, Sky (14 January 2016). "Expat's video featured". Shenzhen Daily. Archived from the original on 10 May 2017.
- ^ Mullin, Kyle (20 August 2016). "Watch Two Crazy Vloggers Drive 5,000km Across Southern China on Handmade Motorcycles". The Beijinger. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
- ^ a b Gidge, Sky (29 March 2017). "YouTube Stars Turn to Kickstarter for China Motorcycle Adventure Series". That's Guangzhou. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
- ^ Babones, Salvatore. "Western Vloggers Are Making It Big In China | The Zhongguo Institute". Retrieved 2020-04-09.
- ^ Everington, Keoni (20 November 2018). "'China's Golden Age is OVER': YouTuber SerpentZA". Taiwan News. Archived from the original on 28 July 2019. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
- ^ Sjöberg, Alexander (2019-07-28). ""De ville ødelægge os psykisk": Den vilde historie om to vestlige YouTube-stjerner, der forelskede sig i Kina, så deres venner blive anholdt og til sidst måtte stikke af" ['They wanted to destroy us mentally': The wild story of two western YouTube stars who fell in love with China, saw their friends get arrested and had to flee in the end]. Politiken (in Danish). Retrieved 2020-02-18.