Dapeng Photo: Courtesy of Sohu

In just four years, he has become one of the most popular comedians in China. Although only a few years ago he was criticized as "plagiarizing" a foreign show, leaving many wondering whether he was actually funny, his sketch comedy series Diors Man, which he both directs and stars in, still holds the highest record for online views since it first aired on streaming site sohu.com in 2012.

Once drifting around Beijing working as an unknown entertainment reporter, Dong Chengpeng, more commonly known by Dapeng, rose from the bottom despite his lack of heart-throb looks to gradually established himself in audiences' hearts and prove he can provide real laughs.

Now he's more than a comedian; he's a talk show host, a singer, a writer and an actor. With his big screen work A Hero or not - Jianbing Man set to release in July, film director and screen writer has also been added to his resume.

In an interview in May, Dapeng shared his experiences climbing up the ladder of success with the Global Times.

Starting small

Although debuting with his own talk show, Dapeng Show, on sohu.com in 2007, it wasn't until his sketch comedy show Diors Man, which depicts a grassroots man in absurd situations, that he began to earn considerable fame.

The idea for the show was inspired by German sketch comedy series Knallerfrauen, which, surprisingly has also become a success in China. Watching the show featuring an actress taking on different roles and amusing audiences in short 10-minutes episodes, Dapeng felt that was something he wanted to try in China.

Dapeng gathered together a team of script-writers and comedians to write jokes that would work in Chinese culture. The result was Diors Man, which shares a similar story-telling format with Knallerfrauen.

When the first season of Diors Man came out, Dapeng suffered huge criticism as many accused him of totally "plagiarizing" the German show.

"I honestly admit that I used this creation as a reference. Watching Knallerfrauen inspired me to do Diors Man. I attribute a lot of my work to Knallerfrauen, Stephen Chow and my master Zhao Benshan, because they helped me," said Dapeng.

However, while he was facing heat at home, the German team behind Knallerfrauen, especially lead actress Martina Hill, was more than happy to see such a successful Chinese version.

The evidence? The actress appears in the fourth season of Diors Man, which is currently being aired on sohu.com.

"I think their inclusiveness, understanding and praise is awesome," Dapeng said.

According to Dapeng, Hill didn't see the show as plagiarism, and actually appreciated their localized version.

"We surprisingly found that there was a lot of common ground between people doing the same show in two different countries," Dapeng said, going on to explain that he discovered he has the same exact car as Hill, they film with the same equipment, and their ways of coming up with ideas and performing are "unprecedentedly the same."

Before Hill left China, she even asked Dapeng whether her team could borrow a few jokes from Diors Man for their next season.

Turning to the big screen

From the first season to the on-going fourth season, Diors Man has accumulated nearly 3 billion hits. It didn't just lead the way for online mini-series, but has continued to support the trend of online mini-series as well.

Dapeng said he couldn't have been happier when the first season of Diors Man got a record 6 million views in one day back in 2012. He totally "went crazy" and began streaking in the streets around the sohu.com building when the second season of Diors Man got a record high 10 million hits in one day in 2013.

"I wasn't all naked. I kept my shoes, just in case I would hurt my feet," he joked.

Last week, the fourth season of Diors Man reached 18 million total views. But he managed to remain calm, since he can still see it breaking 20 million after more episodes are released.

 Diors Man has become a brand that can capitalize on large audiences and has even led to the creation of derivatives like mobile games.

However, for his new big screen work, Dapeng decided to break away from the name and storytelling style of his successful online series, even though many people told him it would attract a far larger audience. He refused to make an online-show-turned-film or variety-show-turned-film, like many others have been doing in the Chinese market in order to harvest huge box office results.

"If I make a film, I make a real film," he said. "As a creator, I respect this industry and won't do something that disobeys its standards."

In Jianbing Man, or "Pancake Man," he depicts an actor named Dapeng that wants to make a superhero movie and approaches many stars to get them to act in it.

The film's producer, director, writer and lead actor, the real Dapeng, not the movie version, has enticed a number of veteran performers and popular stars to join the film, like Hong Kong actor Eric Tsang and actress Sandra Ng, mainland actors Deng Chao and Guo Caijie and even American actor Jean-Claude Van Damme.

Although the humor is quite obvious through the name of the film, many are already betting that it will turn out to be a terrible film.

"It's too early to say that," Dapeng said, explaining that he firmly believes this film will change audiences' view of him.

Many Chinese celebrities have made attempts at directing; some have become box office marvels, while others have been criticized as lacking the basic knowledge needed to direct a film.

Although Dapeng totally understands audiences' assumptions about Jianbing Man, since their hearts have been broken by lame domestic films over and over again, he said he firmly believes that after watching the film, audiences will understand there could have been no better name for the film than Jiangbing Man.

"It took four years of Diors Man to prove I'm good at directing," he said.

No matter it was his time spend as a musician, talk show host, writer or actor, Dapeng has come to realize "all those professions I did in the past have enriched my life experiences so I could be a director."

Following the hilarious super hero film, his autobiography, Be Your Own Hero, will relate the stories of how he got where he is today.

"I got ordinary looks, no talent and moved to Beijing from a small city. I've never been a superhero. Ordinary people like myself, all we can do is to move forward."