奇速英语

A cosplayer of “Tang Monk”, a central character of the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West, has become popular on the Internet for his amazing imitation (模仿) and further acting of the role.

The performer, Tian Xiangyang, 34, has attracted over 900,000 followers on Douyin with his videos of himself interacting with visitors at Chengdu Happy Valley in the costume of Tang Monk. Videos show Tian accurately recreating the appearance of the character from the 1986-aired TV series Journey to the West, which is deeply impressive in the minds of people born from 1970s to 1990s. In one scene, a female tourist playfully puts her hands on Tang Monk’s shoulders. In response, Tian first appears shocked, then raises his hand to reject her, covers his face in avoidance, and eventually flees, imitating the behavior of Tang Monk in the TV drama.

Many netizens have praised Tian for his close resemblance to Tang Monk in the TV series. Some comments include “the expression, the movements look no different even without the costume” and “70 percent likenss in appearance, 100 percent likeness in his timidity (胆小).” A few netizens even said, “We asked you to imitate, not to surpass.”

When asked about his acting skills, Tian rated himself a 6 out of 10. He said that Xu Shaohua, the actor who acted Tang Monk in the TV series, is his idol. He intends to continue learning from Xu and hopes to promote the legacy (遗产) of Journey to the West through his imitation. To make the TV series appealing to the younger generations, Tian said he puts new elements into his performances such as disco dancing.

Tian said he felt sad when leaving Chengdu, as days of performance made him feel that Chengdu is a comfortable city and it allows all kinds of people to belong to it. He hopes to return to Chengdu more often in the future.