13-Yr-Old Girl Outplayed a National Reality TV and Gained 21M Followers

Moral Of The Story

The episode explores the controversial Chinese reality show 'X Change,' which featured wealthy city children swapping lives with impoverished

Key takeaways

• The reality show 'X Change' was a massive hit in China, running for 19 seasons and dominating ratings for over a decade.
• Producers were accused of maliciously editing footage of a boy named Wu to make him appear ungrateful for counting money.

Main topics

• X Change Reality Show
• Han Anran (Abby) influencer strategy

Notable quotes

I was ignorant of the truth but... I have been ignorant to the truth.

Conclusion

The episode provides a fascinating look at the intersection of manufac

Transcript preview

Speaker 2 (0:22) Wait, is it even on? Speaker 1 (0:23) Yeah, it's on. Speaker 2 (0:24) Everything's been on? Yeah. We are Speaker 1 (0:26) traveling Speaker 2 (0:28) right now and one of the mics was broken and it was a really big debate about who should be able to have the mic, right? So I did, we did order another mic. I don't know how fast it came, but it came fast. So you got to put in a lot of input today. He was like, I don't even think I need an, I don't think I need a mic, honey. I'm like, yes, you do. So years ago, we talked about this very popular Chinese reality show called X Change. Exchange. Oh, Speaker 1 (0:56) yes. Speaker 2 (0:56) X Change. X Change Metamorphosis. Okay, just to recap for your memory, this is a show where wealthy, spoiled, and troubled city kids swap lives with children from extremely poor rural villages and mountainous areas for like two weeks. The whole idea behind the program is to show rebellious urban kids. Just how bad it can be, basically. Like, that's kind of fucked up. It's giving, like, your parents being like, oh, did you know that some people don't even have cell service and can't scroll on TikTok and can't do this and can't do that? And also, they don't even have whatever, right? And then you're like, okay, well, now I'm just depressed. Well, that's exactly what this show is. It's just like... trying to make rich kids depressed and humble and it like doesn't really work, but sometimes it works. So the city kids are usually from the major metropolitan areas. You're talking Nanjing, Shanghai, Beijing. They tend to be very rebellious. They struggle a lot with anger issues. Probably their parents' fault, right? Why? Probably the parents. And they end up on this show and they decide by living someone else's life, the parents hope that they will learn the valuable lesson of being humble, being blessed with what you have, and like... God, look at these poor village kids. Now come be thankful. Let's go home. Like that's the vibe, right? Then the village kids in comparison, they live in these remote mountainous and rural regions. They struggle to just get by. They barely have a chance to attend school because they need to work on farms and in the fields. They need to carry the burden of supporting their entire family and caring for their elderly grandparents. And they're like seven years old. And they're going to go live in the city for two weeks. They're going to have their own room. They're going to experience what it likes to be a rich city kid. This reality show was a massive hit in China when it first aired in 2006 because it was the first ever to feature the concept of swapping and exchanging lives. This show is such a success that it had 19 seasons and was considered the top reality show for almost 13 years. And I bet you, I bet you a lot of that success. comes from parents sitting down come here sit your butt down and see this show because i'm about to apply that's what this show was did you watch this show growing up no Speaker 1 (3:09) but it's it's a threat that's constantly floating in the house and Speaker 2 (3:13) a lot of people who would watch They really liked the village kids. So the village kids, they were really thoughtful, usually very understanding, very appreciative. And they had never owned new clothes. Most of them were hand-me-downs. They'd never even seen skyscrapers. They'd never had their own room. And just the simple idea of sitting in a living room, watching TV with AC on. is like unfathomable to them and then as for the city kids some of them tried to adjust to the village life but i would say that most of them would just act out trying to cause as much chaos as possible because they thought if i throw enough temper tantrums they gotta send me back right little do they know have you ever met like a villager their skin is thick they're not sending you back because you're moving like a cow you're staying right the here so that was pretty much the setup and according to the show's producers the original intention was to reflect so issues they said it was gonna be deep but then it just turned into a reality show because they started doing some foul shit on that show also viewers started doing some foul shit okay so for some reason the viewers held these extremely rigid expectations okay where you have to be the perfect villager it was like a thing the city kids oh the drama like look at them act out whatever let's not even get mad at them because it's so expected of course the bad kid does bad things right but the villagers they would come in and they would say oh my god people would watch the show and be like oh my god look at them they're so sweet i feel so bad i feel so Speaker 1 (4:45) charitable i'm such a good person i have so much sympathy Speaker 2 (4:49) Did he just not say fucking thank you when he was given a bowl of rice? Speaker 1 (4:54) Huh? Speaker 2 (4:55) That little shit is getting full of himself. Isn't that interesting? He lives in the city one fucking day and he thinks he's the president all of a sudden? Like, what? Speaker 1 (5:04) No, Speaker 2 (5:05) it's so Speaker 1 (5:05) scary. Speaker 2 (5:06) It's Speaker 1 (5:06) actually so Speaker 2 (5:07) scary, okay? Any, like, adaptation, any curiosity, any moment is seen as betraying their roots. People would say, look at them being corrupted by wealth. Bitch, everybody is corrupted by wealth. It happens, okay? That's the concept. Speaker 2 (5:24) The show would also lean into it because it would get such a big... Like, you know, when you have every season, the same city kids act out in the same ways, it gets boring. How do you keep the show on top? They would maliciously edit some of the villagers' kids' scenes, making them seem ungrateful. In one season, there was a boy named Wu, and he traveled from his village to Shenzhen, which is basically like the Silicon Valley of China. It's like the tech city, right? And he's going to experience city life. And during dinner, his city father gave him some pocket money for his stay. Wu is like repeatedly refusing the money and tries to hand the money back. But then the city father insists. And at the end, his city father gives him like 200 US dollars, Speaker 1 (6:06) like Speaker 2 (6:07) 1100 renminbi. So as soon as he receives it, he starts counting the money under the table. They edited some parts out, but they later re, like, I think they reposted it with the full thing. But when netizens saw him counting the money under the table, they were pissed. Speaker 1 (6:24) Which like, I don't know. I'm going to cry. I'm going to cry. Speaker 2 (6:26) I'm emotionally damaged today. Even if he was counting every single dollar, why does it matter to you? Like this is probably the most money he's ever held in his hand. Why wouldn't you count it? You'd be curious too. Like, and this is like, it's such a pure moment, right? But netizens were like, he's so disrespectful. He only cares about how much pocket money he's getting. Like, look at him counting money. Like he's counting every single bill. And then that was, that was the edit of the first day. And then the episode ended. Then the next day. It Speaker 1 (6:53) only means like how much this means to him that he can't, even though he's like, I don't want it. I don't want it. He can't help it. But it Speaker 2 (7:00) gets worse. It gets worse. That was the first day the episode aired. Okay. I guess like the episode leaves off on that part and people are just reading him to fill the dragging him just being disgusting. And then the next day, the rest of the dinner is aired and he was counting the money and returned a hundred and like $50 back. For his stay and just was like $50 is more than enough for my stay. Speaker 1 (7:27) Oh, he was counting like 75 % to return it back. Oh my god. Speaker 2 (7:32) What the Speaker 1 (7:33) fuck? Speaker 2 (7:34) That's Speaker 1 (7:35) fucking insane. I know, I'm Speaker 2 (7:37) gonna cry. People were saying the most foul shit about this child on the internet. About him counting money, which even if he was counting money to keep it, I didn't think it was a big deal. Speaker 1 (7:48) What do you mean? Speaker 2 (7:49) But, oh my god, they were just going in. And then even afterwards, like after dinner, he keeps insisting on helping his city mom wash the dishes, clean the house. But because only that first part initially went viral, some people, even when the rest was shown, they didn't even care. He received massive online hate. Like they were cyberbullying this kid. To make matters worse, there was another clip where a lot of people were clipping these shows and making the kids seem worse than they were. So then once people saw that Woo was getting a lot of attention online for the fact that he was counting the money under the table, people who watched the full show would then go and clip it to make Woo look even worse. And then only those clips would start going viral. And then people, I guess they didn't want to watch the full show. So they would just take that clip at face value and think that he's just a horrendous kid. So there was this one question where the producers asked, well, like, can you compare your two fathers? You know, and he says, they're really different. And he says, my father, my real father can't really talk. So he can't really compare to the city father. But the city father can't really take any hardship at all. So it's just like you can't really compare them. Right. And he's a kid. So he's trying his best to say that they're both fathers. They both have their strengths and weaknesses, but they can't really be compared because there's no there's Speaker 1 (9:06) no Speaker 2 (9:06) it's like apples and oranges. Right. But even the show had edited for their social media accounts for him to say, my father can't compare to the city father. Speaker 1 (9:16) Saying like he likes the city father more. Speaker 2 (9:18) Yeah. Speaker 1 (9:19) And Speaker 2 (9:20) that brought so much fucking hate to Woo again. And he's just one of the show's victims. Other participants have come forward to say the show would pay them and reward them for causing a ruckus, acting out, throwing tantrums, breaking things. They were also told that Speaker 1 (9:37) if they Speaker 2 (9:37) didn't do a scene, they would be fined. And the worst part is like the city kids, right? I'm sure it was traumatizing, but they go on the show. Maybe they get paid for acting out. Maybe their online reputation takes a small hit, but not really because a lot of people expect bad people to do bad things. So like they didn't really care, right? But the village kids. It was apparently really bad. A lot of them came forward and said even if they didn't get the online hate that Woo was getting, they said that it was really depressing. Because after experiencing the city and just seeing the world for two weeks and then getting dropped back in the village, it would have been better to have never seen it. Speaker 1 (10:15) What? Speaker 2 (10:16) They said it would have been better to not see that other kids just live such a different life. Speaker 1 (10:22) And Speaker 2 (10:22) then to know that no matter how hard they work in the village, it would be near impossible to even live a city life ever. So just to experience it for two weeks, they said it was really mentally difficult to readapt to home. It was almost better to just never have experienced it at all. They said that because it's so unrealistic to even attain something like that. They just lost all motivation. They felt disappointed. They became disconnected from their families because they're also kids. So they don't know how to deal with these emotions. So a lot of them said that initially they felt resentment that they were born into this family and not somewhere else. And then they feel guilt for feeling that. And it was just like a fucking cycle of like the producers just leave them and just they don't even pay for therapy. They're like, bye, have a good time with your complex feelings. Never see you again. So yeah, Exchange was a very controversial show. However, there were some people who did benefit greatly from the show, right? Like now we just talked about all the sad things, but there were some people who did take lemons and turn it into fucking. lemonade that they shot out of a BB gun. For example, there's a village kid named Lee who was later adopted by the city family that she was exchanged with. Speaker 1 (11:32) That's crazy. Yeah, Speaker 2 (11:33) I think she keeps in touch with both, you know. But yeah, she lives a really good life with her adoptive family. They like fell in love with her when she was there. Besides her, another girl broke out and rose to fame. And that girl, that girl is none other than Han Anran. Speaker 1 (11:51) Han Anran. Speaker 2 (11:52) Can you say it? Speaker 1 (11:53) I actually don't know. Speaker 2 (11:54) Okay, but she's also known by her English name, which is Abby. She is a widely known Chinese social media influencer. She is actually considered one of the original influencers. The originals. To give you an idea of how early she started and how iconic she is, she was already famous and viral long before Douyin and TikTok even existed. At her peak, she had 21.5 million followers across all her social media platforms. She is extremely popular in China. But she's not known for being on this exchange show. She's known. And we just talked about it in the last mods. Like at the very end, I briefly name dropped her. Lore. Okay. China versus Lore. She is known for never losing a fight. Speaker 1 (12:33) Never Speaker 2 (12:34) once has lost a fight. That's Speaker 1 (12:36) her. Her Speaker 2 (12:36) lengthy online career. She has never lost a fight. Not one single fucking time. Every online drama that she comes in, she comes out on top. She's the final boss of online drama. But her beginnings are from The Exchange Show. It's Speaker 1 (12:54) like Speaker 2 (12:54) crazy. Some people don't even remember that she's from The Exchange Show because people just remember has an original influencer. They completely forgot. And this show. Is freaking crazy. She's considered one of the city kids. And Abby is one of the city kids that you know is going to throw a temper tantrum. Of course, they're going to cast her because she is just, she's hot-headed. She is portrayed as a girl from this middle upper class who is extremely rebellious, rude to her parents. They can no longer control her. She's introduced on the show. I don't like this title, but I'm just gonna be honest with you, okay? They call her aggressive Lolita, so I don't Speaker 1 (13:30) like the term Speaker 2 (13:30) Lolita, but I Speaker 1 (13:31) think they're referencing like the Japanese style. So they're not expressing Speaker 2 (13:35) the, well, I don't know, okay? Because I know there's controversy with the Lolita in the Japanese style too, but okay, they're talking in the coquette, like the look. Speaker 1 (13:44) Yes, the Speaker 2 (13:44) aesthetic of the face and the outfits and like the ribbons. They're not referencing the book But then you could argue Lolita does come from the book term. Yeah, Speaker 1 (13:53) but no, it's it's just like aesthetic Yeah, Speaker 2 (13:56) so they're not calling her like Lolita like sexualizing her or at least they're not trying to with this Aggressive Lolita