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Smiling boy
2018-11-19 
Gavin Thomas, eight-year-old American boy, known as "the boy with a fake smile" in China, rose to fame on the internet thanks to his unique facial expressions. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The 8-year-old American, who has online fans in China, will soon see T-shirts with his facial expressions on them, Chen Nan reports.

Chinese fans know him as "the boy with a fake smile".

His facial expressions have been used widely on Chinese social media as emojis and animated GIFs, which are compressed image formats, making Gavin Thomas, 8, a net celebrity in China. He gained more than 1 million followers on his Sina Weibo account within 24 hours of his page being launched on July 12. Four months later, the number nearly doubled.

In August, Thomas made his first trip to China, where he visited the Forbidden City in Beijing and the giant panda reserve in Chengdu, Sichuan province.

The boy, who was born and lives in Minnesota, the United States, was stopped on the streets of China by his fans who wanted to take selfies with him. His trip had trended on Chinese social media, too.

"I have a big smile and people told me that I am cute," says Thomas in an email interview. "I do hope to return to China. I want to play video games or make videos when I grow up. I am taking acting lessons."

His favorite hobbies are video games, fishing and soccer, he adds.

Earlier this month, Thomas traveled to Nanjing, Jiangsu province, as an invited guest to the 2018 Tencent Global Partner Conference, where a contract was signed to have the Chinese internet giant Tencent feature some of Thomas' videos on Yoo, the company's new short video app.

In addition, a Chinese design company will start to sell T-shirts and phone covers with Thomas' facial expressions on them, on the Chinese e-commerce platform, Taobao, in December.

"China is an extremely important and a special market to us. When we realized Gavin's fan base in China, it felt important to lean in and spend time with his fans. We have a handful of projects in the works that we're excited to share," says Byron Austen Ashley, Thomas' Los Angeles-based agent.

Gavin Thomas, eight-year-old American boy, known as "the boy with a fake smile" in China, rose to fame on the internet thanks to his unique facial expressions. [Photo provided to China Daily]

A video company from the Chinese city of Hangzhou have partnered in managing the boy's Weibo account and the American family's business interests in China, according to Wei Peiran, Thomas' manager in China whose company makes short videos for the US market.

"Earlier this year, some young people from my team told me that Gavin is very popular among Chinese netizens and then we contacted his agent in America and tried to work out a collaboration," Wei says .

"When we launched Gavin's Weibo account this July, we hoped to reach 1 million followers by the end of the year. The goal was achieved in less than 24 hours, which surprised us."

Wei's company received invitations for the boy to endorse products in China but they turned most down, Wei says.

"Gavin is just a kid in elementary school and we don't want any of this to have negative impact on him."

Echoing his words, Ashley adds: "Gavin should do what he wants to do. What is most important is that Gavin has fun doing whatever he wants."

Thomas made his first trip to China in August, which took him to the Forbidden City in Beijing. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The boy rose to social media fame when his uncle, Nick Mastodon, uploaded Thomas' videos to Vine in the spring of 2014 that record the boy's reaction to a lizard crawling on his forehead. Thomas' simple yet nervous reaction soon gained him a fan base on the internet.

"We take a lot of selfies. My uncle Nick and I make videos together. My family thinks it is really cool for me to have many fans online and my friends in class know that I make videos and take photos," Thomas says in his email.

When Thomas was in Beijing, he was shy but was willing to smile for the cameras of his fans, Wei says.

"I saw Gavin's smiling photo about a year ago when one of my friends sent it to me. My friend was working on the weekends and he used the photo to complain about his boss," says Tian Qian, 27, a primary school teacher in Beijing.

Thomas' smile expressed her friend's emotion at that moment, she adds.

"We live in a fast-paced city and are under a lot of pressure. Gavin's smile makes us feel relaxed," Tian says.

"I have been following him since he launched his Weibo account and it's very enjoyable to watch his videos. We are happy that he is bringing joy to our lives."

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