Viral Monkey King performer expands career beyond the zoo

The Monkey King of Journey to the West is a rebel who once crushed heaven's army.

The "Monkey King" of the Changchun Zoological and Botanical Park in Changchun, Jilin province, complains about dry snacks while trapped under a fake mountain.

Wang Qingfeng, 27, better known by his down-to-earth stage name Tie Zhu, plays the Monkey King — one who doesn't fight.

Dressed in a silicone mask and a red-and-yellow costume, he spins a red handkerchief, gets fed by tourists, and delivers stand-up-style banter from inside his enclosure.

His performances have made him a national sensation, with more than 4.6 million followers on Douyin and crowds of tourists traveling across China just to be entertained by him at the local zoo.

At 11, Wang was sent by his father, a devoted errenzhuan fan, to an art school to learn the traditional folk song and dance art form popular in Northeast China. He soon won top prizes in children's competitions and earned spots on television, becoming the pride of his home village. But 2011 brought a string of setbacks: his father died in a traffic accident, and his house burned down.

"The errenzhuan red handkerchief is the only thing my father left me," he recalls.

Back at the art school, he threw himself into intense practice, using it as a way to catch his breath amid the pain.

"Maybe that's why I improved faster and became more motivated than others," he says.

Wang later gained admission to Jilin University of the Arts.

In 2023, the Changchun Zoological and Botanical Park was hiring actors for a Journey to the West-themed show.

A fan of the classic novel, Wang applied for the position.

He performed a series of somersaults in front of the interviewers to demonstrate his monkey-style kung fu skills and won the role.

The following year, clips of him hilariously complaining that the snacks tourists fed him were too dry went viral on Chinese social media.

More people began to notice the monkey-style performance skills he brought to the character, and they started to follow his antics.

After rising to fame, he actively participated in livestreams, variety shows and cultural events to promote tourism in Changchun and Jilin province at large.

Most of the time, however, he stayed in his monkey persona.

Recently, on season four of the reality show Memories Beyond Horizon, he got to take off his silicone mask and Monkey King costume to portray different roles.

The show gathers young actors to re-create classic film and television scenes under the instruction of veteran practitioners from the film industry.

Wang says that performing with a mask on gives him a comfort zone, where he has a fixed performance formula with references for expressions, body language and tone.

But without the mask, there is nowhere to hide.

"The micro-expressions on my face and emotions are all exposed. Every stray thought, every slightly off move, is magnified by the camera."

Having spent years performing stylized monkey character performances and getting used to that comfort zone, he admits that suddenly having to abandon all the tricks, step into a stranger's inner world and express genuine joy and anger, is a completely new challenge for him.

In his first impromptu test, he was asked to perform a scene in which the Monkey King finishes work, takes off his makeup and makes a video call with his mother.

His rich, layered five-minute performance moved the mentors to tears, including A-listers Liu Tao and Hao Lei.

"That test gave me a huge boost in confidence. In that performance, I was completely immersed in the character. I used a natural, understated approach to portray the emotions and story of an ordinary person," Wang says.

"After receiving praise from the mentors, that performance helped me break through my psychological barriers. I am no longer bound by the label I have been stuck with, and it has strengthened my resolve to cross over into film and television acting."

He says the reality show taught him that acting for the camera values subtlety, naturalness, and a lifelike quality, which is completely different from the exaggerated, stylized approach he had been practicing before.

He also learned that acting is about collaboration — listening to your partner, supporting each other, and blending into the scene, rather than performing alone.

This fresh experience made him hope that in the future, he could move beyond his current image by refining his screen-acting skills and taking on more roles, evolving from an opera actor into a versatile performer.

"I also want to give back to my hometown's cultural scene and inspire young people to carry forward traditional performing arts," Wang adds.