MACAO: Among the many queues of fans waiting to meet their idols at the largest content creator event in Macao, one stands apart and does not seem to end. It is for a man instantly recognizable throughout the Chinese-speaking influencer scene: Iraqi food vlogger Ahmed.
Dressed in a suit — as he typically does in his videos — he steps forward to warmly greet each guest, posing for photos, signing autographs, sharing laughs, and chatting about their lives in fluent Mandarin.
Born in Baghdad, Ahmed Mohammed Jaber Al-Kalthoom began learning the language after arriving in Northwestern China in 2014. Four years later, he released his first viral video in Chinese, which brought him to social media fame.
The video, filmed in Inner Mongolia, was about noodles.
“There are more than 1,000 types of noodles in China. It’s incredible. Every type has its own distinct flavor and ingredients,” Ahmed told Arab News on the sidelines of CreatorWeek Macao, one of the largest creator economy events in Asia.
“I made that video just for me. But the next day, people came knocking on my door, saying, ‘your video went viral, you’ve become an influencer, famous!’ It was such a beautiful feeling. It pushed me to move forward with this.”
He continued regularly uploading videos of himself eating, commenting on the food, and interacting with restaurant owners, waiters and other diners. Within a month he had gained more than half a million followers.
Ahmed has been living in China since the age of 20, after fleeing two wars in the Middle East. His family first left Iraq following the US-led invasion in 2003 and settled in Latakia, Syria. They lived there in relative peace for several years, until the Syrian civil war broke out and Ahmed was severely wounded.
At that time, his uncle who had been living in China for many years, invited him to come.
Eleven years later, posting under the name “Lao Wang in China,” he has become one of the country’s most recognizable content creators, with 38 million followers across major Chinese social media and short-video platforms, including Bilibili, Douyin, Weibo, Kuaishou, Baidu, and Xiaohongshu.
He now hopes to reach audiences beyond China and connect it with the Arab world.
“The program that I present is in Chinese and for the Chinese ... Now, I’m trying to do it on YouTube and Facebook, and I hope to put it out in Arabic,” he said.
“China has so many beautiful places, but many people don’t know about them, don’t know the food, the culture. I’ve documented much of it, I’ve traveled to many cities, and I wish my Arab brothers and sisters could get to see it.”
