Winston Sterzel

Winston Sterzel
Sterzel in 2017
Personal information
Born (1980-08-17) August 17, 1980 (age 44)
Cape Town, South Africa
OccupationYouTuber
Websiteadvchina.net
YouTube information
Channel
GenreVlog
Subscribers1.43 million[1]
Total views244.25 million[1]
Associated acts
100,000 subscribers2016
1,000,000 subscribers2022
Last updated: November 6, 2023

Winston Frederick Sterzel, also known by his YouTube pseudonym SerpentZA, is a South African vlogger and video producer. He lived in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China for fourteen years.[2] His videos cover a variety of topics relating to Chinese politics and life in China from his personal perspective.

Early life

Sterzel is of British heritage and was born and raised in South Africa. He moved to China[3][4] to work as an English teacher after first visiting on business in 2005.[5]

Career

Life in China

In 2015, he was one of twelve South Africans in China profiled by China Radio International.[6] He started uploading videos in China in 2007, and became a full-time vlogger in 2016.[7] His videos primarily focus on life in China as viewed from his personal perspective.[3][4][8][9][10]

Sterzel has also made videos about motorcycle trips through China. With fellow YouTuber Matthew Tye (who goes by Laowhy86)[11] and other friends, he has taken extended journeys and produced documentary series titled Conquering Southern China[12][13][14] and Conquering Northern China.[14][11] He and Tye operate the YouTube channel ADVChina, a motorcycle travel vlog.[15] Sterzel was also co-founder of a small, China-based custom motorcycle business, Churchill Custom Motorcycles, that is no longer in business.[10]

Departure from China and subsequent videos

In late 2018, according to Sterzel and Tye, they faced increased harassment and threats from Chinese internet trolls. According to Sterzel, the trolls had threatened his wife and her employer with letters accusing Sterzel of being a spy, in an effort to get her fired. The month after, Michael Spavor, a business partner and friend of the pair, was detained by Chinese authorities. They reported this increased their fear for their own safety. As a result, Sterzel and Tye chose to leave China and moved to Los Angeles in 2019.[16]

Following his departure from China, Sterzel's YouTube channel took a sharp turn into criticism of the Chinese government, using video titles such as "How China is slowly KILLING us all."[11]

References

  1. ^ a b "About SerpentZA". YouTube.
  2. ^ Melody Yao (September 14, 2019). "American Youtubers In China: Q&A With Winston Sterzal And Matthew Tye". US-China Today. Winston: I have lived in China for 14 years, and that is without leaving. I've done a few holidays here and there, but not many … And one word to describe my time in China would be "challenge."
  3. ^ a b McGeary, Kevin (2014-06-05). "PRD People: Medical Trainer and Online Celebrity Winston Sterzel". The Nanfang. Retrieved 2017-03-19.
  4. ^ a b Ding, A (9 October 2017). "British YouTuber helps foreigners settle in China". Shenzhen Daily. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
  5. ^ "My Chinese Life: Winston Sterzel--The Original China Vlogger" (with video). CRIEnglish. 21 May 2015. Retrieved 29 June 2018 – via China.com.
  6. ^ Kemp, Yunus (26 August 2015). "South Africans find home away from home in China". Xinhua. Archived from the original on 2018-06-29. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
  7. ^ Gidge, Sky (20 December 2016). "Take 5: YouTube Vlogger Winston Sterzel". That's Shenzhen. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
  8. ^ Yuanyuan, Wang (8 June 2012). "British-South African telling people 'how China is'". Shenzhen Daily. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
  9. ^ Rossman, Sean (4 May 2018). "Chinese are OK with Utah teen's controversial cheongsam prom dress". USA Today. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
  10. ^ a b Roberts, Stephen O. (4 January 2015). "Custom Start-Up: Three Expats and A Two-Wheeled Dream". Here! Dongguan. Archived from the original on 25 September 2019. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
  11. ^ a b c "US-China friction turns into YouTube fame (and laughs) for online influencers". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 29 October 2020. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  12. ^ Gidge, Sky (14 January 2016). "Expat's video featured". Shenzhen Daily. Archived from the original on 10 May 2017.
  13. ^ Mullin, Kyle (20 August 2016). "Watch Two Crazy Vloggers Drive 5,000km Across Southern China on Handmade Motorcycles". The Beijinger. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
  14. ^ a b Gidge, Sky (29 March 2017). "YouTube Stars Turn to Kickstarter for China Motorcycle Adventure Series". That's Guangzhou. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
  15. ^ Babones, Salvatore. "Western Vloggers Are Making It Big In China | The Zhongguo Institute". Archived from the original on 2020-05-27. Retrieved 2020-04-09.
  16. ^ Sjöberg, Alexander (2019-07-28). "'De ville ødelægge os psykisk': Den vilde historie om to vestlige YouTube-stjerner, der forelskede sig i Kina, så deres venner blive anholdt og til sidst måtte stikke af" ['They wanted to destroy us mentally': The wild story of two western YouTube stars who fell in love with China, saw their friends get arrested and had to flee in the end]. Politiken (in Danish). Retrieved 2020-02-18.