Deadspin: Many people are curious about who you are and what you do. You said that you’re a farmer?

Liu Shichao: Yes, I help my parents on their farm. In Hebei we mostly farm corn and wheat so that’s what we grow as well. I also used to run a restaurant serving zizhucan [kind of like a buffet] but business wasn’t so good so it closed down three years ago. Before that I ran a barbecue stall. Right now I do some small business selling my homemade sausages and smoked meats on WeChat.

DS: How do they sell?

LS: They sell okay.

DS: How did you come up with the alias, “Hebei Pangzai”?

LS: Well I’m from Hebei. And I’ve always been a little bit fat [chuckles]. “Pangzai” was the name of my restaurant [note: “Pangzai” is a kind of cute pun on “Pangzi,” or “fatty”].

DS: How did you get the idea to start making Kuaishou videos?

LS: Three years ago when I was still running my restaurant I started watching Kuaishou, which had just come out then. I watched other people’s drinking videos and thought, “I can also drink a lot. I can do this too.” So I started making videos for Kuaishou and slowly I started to get more and more fans.

DS: About a year ago more than 100 of your videos were taken off Kuaishou. Do you know why?

LS: Yes, in China for these short video apps there are regulations that forbid drinking—especially drinking a lot. Because it can have a negative impact on young children and teenagers. Back when I would make those videos a lot of people would comment, “I want to imitate this.”

DS: Were you able to accept it when these videos were taken down? Were you angry?

LS: Even if I don’t accept it there’s nothing I can do. These are the rules.

DS: Have you always been able to drink that much?

LS: Yes, around the time I was 18 I started drinking and I found I could drink more than other people.

DS: How about all of those tricks you do in the videos? How did you learn them?LS: They just came out of experimentation and research over time. It’s completely self-studied.

DS: Do you get drunk when you make those videos?

LS: No. I never feel drunk after I finish filming. Just a little full.

DS: What’s your favorite thing to drink?

LS: Beer.

DS: Favorite brands of beer?

LS: I like Yanjing [a light domestic beer from Beijing] and Laoshan [light domestic beer from Shandong].

DS: Why do you crack a raw egg into your beer?

LS: It’s kind of a tradition where I’m from. We have a saying for when you crack a raw egg into a beer: “to see flowers in the fog”DS: I’ve noticed people really like your music selections. How do you choose the song to go along with your video?

LS: I just try to think what kind of song will best fit the video. Many people like these songs and they want to know the name.

DS: It seems like you favor rock music.

LS: Yes. It’s very energetic and gives me lots of energy for drinking. I particularly like Chinese male singers who have a very cool, “manly” vibe.

DS: You had never met any foreigners before you became famous on Twitter a few weeks ago, and now you have thousands of foreign friends. What is your impression of foreigners?

LS: No particular impression. I think they seem very interesting and very kind. I can see that from their replies. It’s crazy to have all of these foreign friends all of a sudden. Some of them have offered to help me make money [note: shortly after this interview was conducted Liu registered a PayPal account, which he now shares in his tweets]. I really have to thank them a lot. If I have a chance I will find them and we can drink together.

DS: I noticed a tweet the other day that said you could help to solve Sino-American relations, which have been strained lately.


LS: I saw that too [laughs]. But I think that this the big affair of our two countries. I’m just bullshitting. This is my personal thing. I think Americans are very nice. I thought the relationship between our two countries was always good. But I’m in the countryside and we don’t really get much information about these things.

DS: Do you have a favorite Hebei dish?

LS: I like so many dishes, it’s too hard to choose one. Here in the north we eat a lot of food made from wheat flour (mianshi) like buns and dumplings. I especially like to make dumplings for the new year.

DS: I know donkey meat is a Hebei specialty. Do you like to eat donkey?

LS: Yes, I really like some roast donkey. One of the smoked meats I sell is donkey meat.

DS: Do you think you’ll ever go back into the restaurant business?

LS: I think about it sometimes. Because I really like to make food. In my home I’m the one who does all the cooking.

DS: Your wife doesn’t cook?

LS: She can, but I like to be in the kitchen.

DS: Does your wife worry about your health?

LS: Yes. Back when I was making those videos, sometimes one every day, she really didn’t like it. After I would film she would be really mad. We would get into fights [laughs]. But I know it’s because she wants the best for me. So recently I haven’t filmed anything like that.

DS: How is your health, by the way? Many of your fans are concerned.

LS: It’s fine. Back when I was making those videos I would go to the hospital pretty often to get check-ups. They never found any big problems. People in China were worried about my health, too. I know it looks intense in my videos but I don’t do it that often. It’s not a long-term problem. When I drink with my friends I don’t drink that much.

DS: What do you like to eat when you drink beer?

LS: Peanuts. Any kind of nut or bean. Also barbecue.

DS: Are you planning to film any more drinking videos in the future?

LS: Yes, I think I will make some videos about how to drink faster and how to open bottles in different ways.

DS: Is there anything else you would like to express to your fans?

LS: In the future I will send more videos, maybe some from my daily life in Hebei. I hope that we can come closer together this way. I really thank you all. I see your comments when you say you’ve been waiting for me. Thank you so much for being concerned about me.

DS: Thank you for your time!

LS: No problem. If you want to understand anything else about drinking beer, just WeChat me.