ARTS / CULTURE & LEISURE
Blackpink member Lisa receives warm welcome from Chinese fans as she shoots her first TV program in Chinese mainland
Published: Jan 08, 2020 02:52 PM

Lisa, member of South Korean girl band Blackpink Photo: Screenshot of Lisa's Instagram account

Lisa, one of the members of popular South Korean girl group Blackpink, arrived in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province on Monday to take part in filming for the second season of Chinese streaming gaint iQIYI's reality show Youth With You on Monday. Crowds of Chinese fans waited for hours on Monday night in the arrival hall at the Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport to welcome her.

This is the first time Lisa has come to the Chinese mainland to attend an entertainment program since she debuted as a member of Blackpink in 2016. The band's music has proved extremely popular on Chinese sites such as music platform Tencent Music, streaming platform Bilibili and China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo. 

"Lisa attracted fans because of her cool performance on stage, especially her ability to pull off 'killing parts' (movements in K-pop that hook people in)" Mo (pseudonym), a 24-year-old building designer who runs a Lisa fan club in China, told the Global Times.  

"Lisa is a fashion icon who shows girls how to dress and frequently appears on magazine covers and at fashion shows," Mo added. 

Fashion magazine Nylon China invited Lisa to appear on the cover of its January issue, which had two different covers. Lisa wears blue eyeshadow in a close-up photo of her face and hair for the first cover, while she wears a white dress and red shoes for the second cover. The magazine sold more than 7,500 copies on China's e-commerce platform Taobao within its first hour of pre-sales. 

Jing (pseudonym), another fan who has followed Lisa for more than three years, told the Global Times that she found Lisa's cheerful personality very touching, going on to add she loves the way the star likes to smile and is always tolerant and patient. 

Lisa has been praised as a K-pop dance queen by media. Mo said she thinks is in part due to Lisa's natural talent, but also because she is hardworking. 

"She is able to learn one dance after looking at it just one time and her dance style is very unique," Mo noted.

Her body wave dance move has gone viral in China, with many Chinese netizens attempting the move on Douyin, the Chinese version of short video sharing platform TikTok. Videos with the hashtag #Lisa'sWaveChallenge have been viewed 3.27 million times on the platform.

"Lisa started her own YouTube channel, Lilifilm, on which she uploads her dance performances sometimes and shows her passion for dancing. We hope Lisa can progress further in the future," Mo said.