CHINA: A Chinese influencer on TikTok-like platform Douyin has died less than 12 hours after livestreaming himself guzzling four bottles of Chinese baijiu (also known as Chinese vodka), a clear liquor with alcohol content of up to 60 per cent.
It was reported that Wang Moufeng, 34, known as "Sanqiange" or "Brother 3000" started a drinking challenge on the Chinese social media platform live at about 1am, last Tuesday (May 16).
He was found dead at 1pm on the same day in his friend's home.
Shangyou News confirmed that Wang died of excessive drinking and had been cremated that morning.
Wang's close friend, known as Mr Zhao, told Shangyou News that Wang was just "PK-ing," reported todayonline.com (http://todayonline.com/), Singapore English-language digital news portal.
The abbreviation "PK" stands for "player kill" in online gaming. Similar to the phrase "versus" in English, it is frequently used in Chinese slang to signify a confrontation or challenge between several people.
The same concept of PK is also used in TikTok which is a real-time competition between streamers, where the winner is decided by the viewers.
"Grandpa Ming", a different livestreamer, went into detail about Wang's live drinking challenge last Saturday afternoon.
"He played four rounds of PK in total. He (drank) one in the first round. He drank two plus three more Red Bulls energy drink during the second round.
"In the third round, he didn't lose. In the fourth round, he (drank) four which makes it a total of seven (baijiu) and three Red Bull," he was quoted as saying.
Discussions on the tragedy and the safety guidelines for apps with billions of users filled Chinese social media.
Wang, who had 44,000 followers, had previously been penalised for sharing videos of himself drinking.
The app prohibits contents that depicts drinking, and the consequences can include a ban after repeated warnings.