China blogger with 20 million followers takes a break after 13 years of intense content creation

A top influencer in China has announced a halt to updates of his social media account for the sake of his health, arousing significant nationwide attention.The announcement comes after the sudden deaths of a slew of online celebrities at a young age due to work pressure, the Liaoshen Evening News reported.Wang Bowen, who uses the handle @dalianlaoshiwangbowen on social media and has amassed more than 20 million followers, said in mid-May that he would stop releasing videos for an “indefinite duration”.“Intense content creation for the past 13 years has overdrafted my physical and mental health. I have got health problems like tinnitus, depression, anxiety and heart disease,” Wang said in his latest video.Wang Bowen, above, produces zany content based in an urban setting. Photo: BaiduThe blogger, who was born in the 1990s and lives in Dalian, Liaoning province, northeastern China, said he would feel sick and anxious whenever he saw a camera or face questions about when he would release new videos.Wang admitted he has been holding on firmly despite his poor health since last year.His tearful mother once asked him: “What is the point of earning money? Do you want to live on? Your father and I have only one child. Without you, how shall we live?”Wang began to share videos in 2013 before going viral in 2017.Wang wearing a wig, above, says intense work has caused him physical and mental damage. Photo: BaiduThe humorous videos, in which Wang plays multiple roles, feature interactions in urban daily life.He has won some awards for short video creators. Some of his clips have received as many as 600,000 likes.Wang was hit with heart disease in February, which almost took his life, he said.After that, he did not share videos until the latest one about his decision to withdraw from social media.Further ReadingWang expressed his thanks to the people who have supported him: “Please do not sympathise with me. I believe I live a life better than most of you. What I have done these years is based on my own choice. As an adult, I need to bear the consequences by myself.”Top influencers who suddenly die of heart or other health issues often make headlines in China.Zhang Xuefeng, an educational guru with 30 million followers online, died in late March after suffering a cardiac arrest.Wang, above, pictured during one of his comedy-filled live-streamed videos. Photo: BaiduOver the past years, he admitted he felt unwell multiple times. In 2023, Zhang was sent to hospital with symptoms linked to overwork.Also in March this year, a 39-year-old influencer based in northern Shanxi province died from a brain haemorrhage soon after her colleagues sent her to hospital.She aroused her colleagues’ attention by yelling ‘I feel pain’ while live-streaming to sell products.Also, a 34-year-old wine tasting blogger in central Henan province died in his sleep from heart disease in April.