Meet Marcelo Wang, who’s teaching Rihanna and more stars how to say phrases in Mandarin
The content creator boasts over 1 million followers on Instagram, just attended Milan Fashion Week – and speaks Portuguese, too
He splits his time between Portugal and China
Before he rose to TikTok stardom, Marcelo Wang was a university student from China on exchange abroad in Lisbon, Portugal. He’d only planned to spend a year in Portugal, but fell in love with the country and went on to finish his bachelor’s and master’s degree there.
“I lived my best life in Lisbon. I’m so happy that I met so many people who truly love me, support me, and treat me like family in a foreign country,” Wang wrote in an Instagram post about his journey from China to Portugal, in 2022.
Since then, Wang splits his time between Portugal and China, and speaks Portuguese fluently.
He used to be a part-time teacher
Given Wang’s background as a teacher, it’s no wonder how effortlessly he teaches celebrities to speak in Mandarin. In an interview with Galore Mag, Wang revealed that he worked as a part-time Chinese teacher while studying in Portugal, and his students would ask him to teach them funny phrases in his mother tongue.
Inspired by his interactions with his students, Wang started to upload these videos onto TikTok. The comical usage of phrases like “who is this diva” and Wang’s on-screen attitude led his videos to blow up.
“I never expected so many people to show so much love for my series! Now I’m really happy that I can bring so much joy to people who are learning Chinese and made many people willing to learn Chinese,” he said in the interview.