Top China Influencer Vanishes After Displaying Ice Cream Shaped Like A Tank

One month ago, Li Jiaqi disappeared from the internet. The 30-year-old livestreamer, also known as Austin Li, was — until recently — one of China's biggest internet celebrities, with 64 million followers on Taobao, an online shopping platform.

Photo Insert: Li had presented his audience a multi-layered ice cream delicacy garnished with Oreos and wafers just before the abrupt termination. It looked like a tank.

He once sold 15,000 lipsticks within five minutes in a sales competition against Alibaba founder Jack Ma, winning himself the nickname "China's lipstick king," Laura He reported for CNN.

The famous marketer has gone silent after his popular livestream broadcast was abruptly cut down on the night of this year's Tiananmen Square massacre commemoration. Li had presented his audience a multi-layered ice cream delicacy garnished with Oreos and wafers just before the abrupt termination. It looked like a tank.

Hours later, Li apologized on his social media account, blaming technical difficulties. However, Li did not attend two live-streaming events scheduled for the following days. He has since vanished from the online world, halting his broadcasting activity without explanation.

Li is not the only internet celebrity to have vanished in China in recent months. Huang Wei, often known as Viya among his followers, was fined a record $210 million in December for tax evasion.

Huang had millions of followers on China's biggest social media and commerce platforms, such as Weibo, Taobao, and TikTok's China equivalent Douyin, but her accounts were deactivated in December. She hasn't been seen online since.

The 36-year-old, known in China as the "livestreaming queen," had become one of the country's most prominent influencers over the last decade, helping to sell goods worth billions of dollars.

While Li and Viya are no longer on the internet, an unusual contender has emerged to take their place in China's livestreaming scene. Dong Yuhui, a former English tutor, gained millions of fans after he began delivering free English lessons while selling things online.

In less than two months, he assisted his company in gaining 22 million followers on Douyin's live-streaming platform.

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