The term "little fresh meat" (xiaoxianrou) is a Net buzzword for good-looking male pop idols in their teens or early 20s. This phrase has come to define a new wave of interest in teen pop stars in China. Like it or not, these clean-cut young men are becoming increasingly hard to ignore in China"s entertainment industry.
According to Forbes" 2015 list of Chinese celebrities, nine "little fresh meat" idols have been listed in the top 100, including Li Yifeng, William Chan Wai-ting, Lu Han, Wu Yifan, and The Fighting Boys (TFBoys). And among these "fresh meat" celebrities, TFBoys are the youngest but perhaps the most striking.
When TFBoys debuted with the single "Heart" in 2013, the three band members were only 13 or 14. But within two years, these young teenagers soared from being upstarts to A-list pop stars. They have appeared constantly on TV variety shows, reality shows, at awards ceremonies and in news headlines. Just one year after their debut, they were named the most popular songsters in the Chinese mainland. In February 2016, the group was invited to perform in CCTV"s New Year Gala, a major honor for any Chinese performer.
And each member of this group has millions of followers on Sina Weibo - 15 million for Wang Junkai, 14 million for Wang Yuan and 13 million for Yi Yangqianxi. Even their most casual posts get hundreds of thousands of comments and retweets. The group"s leader Wang Junkai made social media history when his birthday message was reposted 42,776,438 times, gaining him a place in the Guinness World Records for the most reposts of a Weibo post.
The Internet has not only created an enormous fan base for TFBoys in China, but has also helped spread their music abroad. The Global Times talked to some foreign TFBoys "seed fans" to discover their special appeal and how fans are supporting the group.
