[Explanation] On January 5, in a hotel in Chengdu, Sichuan, Hu Bo, the photographer of the popular video of Ding Zhen, was editing the video material of the "Smile of the World's High City" that he had just filmed from Ganzi Prefecture.
It is reported that since August 2020, Hu Bo has taken more than 200 smiling videos of more than 50 people from Yunnan, Tibet, and Sichuan.
[Concurrent] Hu Bo, initiator of the "Smile of the World's High City" project
There are two key themes of "Smile in the High City of the World", one is real and the other is smile. 2020 is really a very "mourning" year. The mental state of everyone is not particularly good, and we also think This is a hope for everyone in this respect.
I hope that smiling can have a "healing" effect, but I just didn't expect a certain work to be so strong.
[Explanation] At the top of the homepage of Hu Bo's self-media account, there are three videos of a Tibetan guy Ding really smiling in Litang County, Ganzi Prefecture.
In mid-November last year, Ding Zhen became popular on social media due to a short video about "wildness and innocence."
Hu Bo introduced that the shooting of Ding Zhen was not as accidental as rumors on the Internet. In fact, the protagonist in his video was the more "wild" uncle Silang Robb of Ding Zhen.
[Concurrent] Hu Bo, initiator of the "Smile of the World's High City" project
They also like to play Douyin in the whole village, and everyone saw him (Silang Robe) become a little celebrity in Litang.
Everyone has started to interact in this area, which is what I hope to see.
I also filmed them, and encouraged them to go live with Suo (4) Lang Robb, and be accepted by more people.
In terms of their character, they are willing to go to his uncle's house and be seen by me.
I'm all "suck" faces.
Do you think the secretly photographed things can be photographed like that?
[Explanation] After Ding Zhen's first video became popular, voices questioning Hu Bo's excessive consumption of Ding Zhen appeared on the Internet.
Hu Bo said that as a self-media blogger, he also hopes to “drain” himself through Ding Zhen’s popularity, but the consequence of excessive consumption of Ding Zhen can only be a sudden drop in popularity. He hopes that Ding Zhen can go further.
Today, Ding Zhen is not only a phenomenal Internet celebrity on the Internet, but also a tourism ambassador for Litang.
After taking a rest in Chengdu, Hu Bo will pack up and head to the Western Sichuan Plateau.
Currently, he is planning an art exhibition "Smile in the World's High City" with friends from the Central Academy of Fine Arts, hoping to combine static and dynamic, hold several art joint exhibitions, and play more of the role of smiles.
[Concurrent] Hu Bo, initiator of the "Smile of the World's High City" project
Smile is a high-level expression of human beings as well as a high-level emotional expression.
We also want to make an attempt of this kind, which is a joint exhibition of dynamic videos and oil paintings based on it.
It is not only real, but also refined to the level that can be recognized by the original traditional art.
Yang Yudian, Chen Xuanbin, from Chengdu, Sichuan
Editor in charge: [Liu Xian]