Related News
The secret online celebrity of civil servant Zhao
By Lu Xiaofeng and Xu Wei |
August 29, 2011, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
FEW people know who Zhao Feng is, but when it comes to his nickname "Little Hami," almost all online game lovers would have heard of him.
Zhao - dubbed "the best game writer" by People's Daily Online, Tencent and China News Service - is the first Chinese to dabble in writing both game novels and reviews. However, behind his popular online identity of "Little Hami," Zhao is an ordinary civil servant at the Malu Town government. Very few of his colleagues and friends know that Zhao is an Internet celebrity. But in Zhao's eyes, the title of "the best game writer" is more than he deserves.
The release of "World of Warcraft" in 2004 thrilled thousands of online game enthusiasts. One year later, the game was introduced to China. Zhao was one of the first game players at that time. He didn't expect that one day the game would inspire his novel-writing dream and bring him overnight fame on the Internet.
Due to the huge popularity of "World of Warcraft," numerous online novelists began writing fiction set against the backdrop of the game. Some of the novels impressed and inspired Zhao to write on his own.
"In 2005, lightning flashed and lit up the tranquil skyline of Mongolia," Zhao wrote in the preface of his debut novel on the night of March 28, 2007. He released the piece on the Internet in such a haste, that he even forgot to run a spelling check. At that time he was not confident about his writing talent. Even today, he considers his maiden work a little naive and immature regarding its words and outline.
"You did a good job in writing, why not write and post serial novels on your blog?" some netizens advised Zhao after he had written several novellas. Zhao took their advice and spent half a month dreaming up a plot. On December 21, 2007, he started to release the saga novel "The Legend of Devils and Heroes."
As time passed, Zhao was surprised to see the clicks his novel received increase dramatically from 100,000 to 300,000. On January 30, 2010, when he concluded the 1.5 million words' novel, its clicks soared to 8 million. The saga was posted on various websites and was recommended by the official website of "World of Warcraft" on its front page.
"I used to submit my stories to the websites, but now they contact me for the online publication of my novels," Zhao says.
After the popularity of "The Legend of Devils and Heroes," Zhao did his first media interview.
"I just talked about my writing experience," Zhao recalls. "But when the story came out, I found myself dubbed as 'the best game writer.' I think I am lavishly praised and flattered, not all the people will agree to it, since there are so many other excellent online game novelists," Zhao says soberly.
As expected, Zhao was overwhelmed by the countless doubts and criticism posted on the Internet after the story was released. Fortunately he didn't give up writing more appealing original novels. And it was his soberness and perseverance that won him wide recognition from the public.
Following the "The Legend of Devils and Heroes," Zhao turned to writing fantasy novellas. In 2009, he began to write and release online game reviews and became a columnist for the People's Daily Online. He says that "the best game writer" title benefitted him with more readers of his novels.
Although "The Legend of Devils and Heroes" was a hit, Zhao was unsatisfied with it.
"There are too many characters in the novel and the main storyline is weak," Zhao says. "Furthermore, the book doesn't feature a distinctive style."
Such problems are revised in his new novel "Kukalong."
A friend of Zhao recommended that he read Japanese writer Sunao Yoshida's epic fantasy novel "Trinity Blood." The book impressed Zhao with its imaginative storyline and beautiful words.
On February 14, 2010, Zhao began to post his new baroque-style serial novel "Kukalong." It immediately distinguished Zhao's novels from other game novels.
Zhao doesn't restrict himself to writing novels based on the "World of Warcraft." His "The Game Memories of the Post-80s Generation" has evoked readers' nostalgic mood for childhood video games. And his critical essays about the domestic video game industry and how to cultivate the right attitude toward online games have also inspired many people.
At Zhao's home, visitors can find many species of flowers such as a spider plant and aloes. The 26-year-old man doesn't like playing cards or singing karaoke. He likes to keep fish and grow flowers.
"He is different from others; he is an inner-directed man," says Xu Jing, Zhao's wife.
If it weren't for the photos in the magazine, Zhao's mother would never have believed that the story was about his son.
"I didn't exactly know what he was doing, but he is really something," she says.
Zhao - dubbed "the best game writer" by People's Daily Online, Tencent and China News Service - is the first Chinese to dabble in writing both game novels and reviews. However, behind his popular online identity of "Little Hami," Zhao is an ordinary civil servant at the Malu Town government. Very few of his colleagues and friends know that Zhao is an Internet celebrity. But in Zhao's eyes, the title of "the best game writer" is more than he deserves.
The release of "World of Warcraft" in 2004 thrilled thousands of online game enthusiasts. One year later, the game was introduced to China. Zhao was one of the first game players at that time. He didn't expect that one day the game would inspire his novel-writing dream and bring him overnight fame on the Internet.
Due to the huge popularity of "World of Warcraft," numerous online novelists began writing fiction set against the backdrop of the game. Some of the novels impressed and inspired Zhao to write on his own.
"In 2005, lightning flashed and lit up the tranquil skyline of Mongolia," Zhao wrote in the preface of his debut novel on the night of March 28, 2007. He released the piece on the Internet in such a haste, that he even forgot to run a spelling check. At that time he was not confident about his writing talent. Even today, he considers his maiden work a little naive and immature regarding its words and outline.
"You did a good job in writing, why not write and post serial novels on your blog?" some netizens advised Zhao after he had written several novellas. Zhao took their advice and spent half a month dreaming up a plot. On December 21, 2007, he started to release the saga novel "The Legend of Devils and Heroes."
As time passed, Zhao was surprised to see the clicks his novel received increase dramatically from 100,000 to 300,000. On January 30, 2010, when he concluded the 1.5 million words' novel, its clicks soared to 8 million. The saga was posted on various websites and was recommended by the official website of "World of Warcraft" on its front page.
"I used to submit my stories to the websites, but now they contact me for the online publication of my novels," Zhao says.
After the popularity of "The Legend of Devils and Heroes," Zhao did his first media interview.
"I just talked about my writing experience," Zhao recalls. "But when the story came out, I found myself dubbed as 'the best game writer.' I think I am lavishly praised and flattered, not all the people will agree to it, since there are so many other excellent online game novelists," Zhao says soberly.
As expected, Zhao was overwhelmed by the countless doubts and criticism posted on the Internet after the story was released. Fortunately he didn't give up writing more appealing original novels. And it was his soberness and perseverance that won him wide recognition from the public.
Following the "The Legend of Devils and Heroes," Zhao turned to writing fantasy novellas. In 2009, he began to write and release online game reviews and became a columnist for the People's Daily Online. He says that "the best game writer" title benefitted him with more readers of his novels.
Although "The Legend of Devils and Heroes" was a hit, Zhao was unsatisfied with it.
"There are too many characters in the novel and the main storyline is weak," Zhao says. "Furthermore, the book doesn't feature a distinctive style."
Such problems are revised in his new novel "Kukalong."
A friend of Zhao recommended that he read Japanese writer Sunao Yoshida's epic fantasy novel "Trinity Blood." The book impressed Zhao with its imaginative storyline and beautiful words.
On February 14, 2010, Zhao began to post his new baroque-style serial novel "Kukalong." It immediately distinguished Zhao's novels from other game novels.
Zhao doesn't restrict himself to writing novels based on the "World of Warcraft." His "The Game Memories of the Post-80s Generation" has evoked readers' nostalgic mood for childhood video games. And his critical essays about the domestic video game industry and how to cultivate the right attitude toward online games have also inspired many people.
At Zhao's home, visitors can find many species of flowers such as a spider plant and aloes. The 26-year-old man doesn't like playing cards or singing karaoke. He likes to keep fish and grow flowers.
"He is different from others; he is an inner-directed man," says Xu Jing, Zhao's wife.
If it weren't for the photos in the magazine, Zhao's mother would never have believed that the story was about his son.
"I didn't exactly know what he was doing, but he is really something," she says.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
