Profile | China busker Guo Zhuang finds online fame with classic cover version, triggers hometown tourism surge
- Busks in disused station square, has retro style in live-streaming sessions, covers popular 1990s love song, becomes online celebrity, draws visitors
A 25-year-old man from rural China has shot to fame after his cover version of an old love song went viral on social media, and his poignant, inspiring life story was revealed.
Guo Zhuang, who calls himself Guo Youcai on short video platform Douyin, has a street stall barbecue business which he operates in the evenings in Heze, Shandong province, eastern China.
Every morning, he appears on live-streaming busking in the square in front of the local abandoned railway station, reported the Qilu Evening News.
The young man dresses as though he is middle-aged in a retro style that includes a slick pompadour haircut, wide-shouldered jacket, striped shirt, colourful tie and black leather gloves.
For about a year, only a few dozen people a day would listen to his singing in a live-streaming session.
But since May, Guo has become an online celebrity after his version of Promise, a song made popular in the mid-1990s by Taiwanese singer E-Jun Lee, won the hearts of many on mainland social media.
