Soledad Navarro
08/18/2021 12:09
Clarín.com
Economy
Updated 08/18/2021 12:12 PM
Brian González's voice has a slight trace of the 10 years he has been living in China, more precisely in Beijing.
A few days ago,
this 30-year-old influencer revolutionized the networks by talking about inflation on TV in the Asian country,
and not only surprised everyone, but to his own amazement he went viral in Argentina.
In dialogue with Clarín, he told who he is, how he thinks and what he does in that country that captivated him.
Brian González, better known in China by his stage name "Gongbiyang", studied a BA in Chinese Philology at the Beijing University of International Studies (BISU), and an MA in Foreign Trade.
"There are two things in which I am very interested: one is the language and the other is the economy and commerce," he
says.
Regarding his current occupation, the Argentine economist says: "I dedicate myself to being in the media (both traditional media such as television or in new media being an influencer or blogger making videos). He is a curious and restless young man, he also has a company of foreign trade in which it exports Chinese products to Latin America and Spain, and imports Latin American products to China.
12 years ago, in 2009, he came to Beijing almost by chance and put down roots there.
"I came here because I won a scholarship studying Chinese in Argentina," he
said. But his approach to the language, far from having any romanticism, was casual. "I began to study Mandarin Chinese at the age of 15. Without any plan," says this Argentine who, due to his presence in the Chinese media and social networks, was the host and translator of Lionel Messi in an event that had the star as the protagonist.
He says he came up with that out of nowhere.
"When I was leaving school, I told my mother I want to study Chinese,"
Brian tells Clarín.
But he did not have an answer from his mother, if not another question:
"Why"
, although that was not an obstacle to reject his request, if not the trigger to help him fulfill his wish.
Far from being angry at the cross-question, Brian tells with a certain sweetness and naturalness that his mother's question had a certain logic: "Imagine a boy from the suburbs, from San Vicente, whose maximum contact with
the Chinese community was the nearest supermarket.
It was not reason enough to say I want to study Chinese. "
From the Argentine suburbs to Beijing
Nothing prevented them from finding out how to do it, where he could study, and thanks to the Chinese Embassy in Argentina, Brian arrived at the University Center for Languages (CUI) at the University of Buenos Aires.
"I had a very good teacher from the first moment, and I loved the language," he
summarizes.
With an astonishing naturalness, this 30-year-old young man who seems quite younger in his physical appearance, continued with his story: "At 5 months I participated in a contest, I got first place and a scholarship to be able to come to China", something that it only took shape at 20.
He has lived in the Asian country for 10 years, and although he was unknown until a few days ago in his country of origin, the young man gained popularity in the place where he resides by participating in television programs of strong interest among young people, and accumulating more than 2 million followers on social networks such as Weibo and Bilibili.
How Brian became a reference
"I did not expect it," says Brian about the viralization of the video and the impact it had in Argentina. His path does not seem strategically thought out, if not drawn by surprise because, according to the same account, he never imagined anything about the journey he made here.
"Nor did I imagine that I was going to work on TV.
This began six years ago with a casting to be a panelist and participant in the '
Informal Talks
' program," he indicates and thus links his past and present as a columnist for the program in which to speak of Argentine inflation put it on everyone's lips.
In this game of chance that presents him with life and in which he seems to participate with pleasure, Brian continues and indicates that the production of the program reached the university where he was studying his master's degree looking for foreigners who spoke the language well and who could debate on current issues.
"That's how I started"
, laughs Brian, who also states that
"he is very happy"
that his video has been seen so
widely
seen in his country of origin.
Even so, six years have passed since he began as a columnist in that program, which has been on the air for 8 seasons and in which he not only talks about economic issues, although he has already spoken enough about the Argentine economy.
"I told how the country was 100 years ago, when it was one of the western lighthouses, and on the subject of taxes," he sums up, with which he also left everyone with their mouths open.
"It also deals with cultural issues. I think I was the first person who wore a poncho on TV and the Chinese loved it," he
comments on the program created by Hubei Tv, which targets young people, and is among those preferred by students university students.
With his slow voice when speaking, sure at the time of building his story and clear to transmit his ideas, this Argentine who is all the rage clarifies, anyway, that the
"most important thing about this viralization" is to be able to tell something that in Argentina is very common, but in the rest of the world it is seen as something very crazy and unusual
.
"
And the data backs this up: in China, for example, there was 2.5% inflation last year and in July there was 1 % year-on-year.
"These data are those of China, but I am at a table with 10 more foreigners
who, for the most part, are astonished to hear these types of stories
because
the world has already forgotten about inflation, you already know how to combat it",
underlines who He was a translator for Leonel Messi during a visit from the star.
In this sense, Brian has a wish, which although he sees far away, does not hold back:
"Hopefully this can help someone to understand that the issue of inflation is solvable
. And that we must find the true way to combat it, as he fought it the rest of the world, lowering the monetary issue, for example. "
"I hope that in these elections for which there is very little left, they make good decisions and can turn the tide on the course, so that ordinary people, normal people, live better," concludes the young man who with the same simplicity who talks about politics or economics, responds that from Argentina he misses
"eating fried cake when it rains."
YN
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