How to be a YouTube star: creators give tips before Hong Kong fan concert featuring Shangrila, Matt Steffanina and more
Hong Kong YouTube stars Shangrila and Emi Wong share what it’s like to be famous vloggers and explain how they built and maintain a following ahead of this Friday’s FanFest Hong Kong
The girl in the video greets her viewers with a sunny “Dai gaa hou!”(“Hello everyone!”) and introduces herself in Cantonese as “Shangrila”. But the YouTuber, whose channel has more than 110,000 subscribers, is not Chinese, nor was she raised in Hong Kong, or anywhere in Asia.
On top of her elfin features, perfect complexion and ambiguous ethnicity, the 24-year-old vlogger, singer and Instagram model has a gift for learning languages, which has earned her an unusually diverse following across the world.
Shangrila is one of YouTube’s “creators” who will be in the spotlight this Friday at FanFest, a sold-out concert event at Hong Kong’s Kitec entertainment venue that includes meet-and-greet sessions for fans to interact with popular vloggers both local and from overseas.
The YouTube star will feature on a line-up that includes mainland Chinese food YouTuber Ms Yeah, Hong Kong gamer Edward Slime, Canto-pop singer Hana Tam, local comedian Vivek Mahbubani, and Los Angeles dance choreographer Matt Steffanina, among others.
“My fans are…” Shangrila trails off during an interview, choosing her words carefully, “cheerful, funny and compassionate. I’ve always dreamed of becoming a singer, but now I have a place to express myself, post cover songs, create content and get known. YouTube has helped me feel more free and gain more confidence.”