Fight Back To School Actor Wong Yat San Moved To China 19 Years Ago, Says He Has 5 Million Fans On Social Media Now

Would you rather be a big fish in a small pond or a small fish in a big pond? For Hongkong actor Wong Yat San, 57, the answer is as clear as day.

Yat San, who is best known for playing Turtle in Stephen Chow’s 1991 comedy classic Fight Back to School, moved to Guangzhou, China in 2003.

He’s been living there for so long, he describes himself as a “new generation Guangzhou resident” and says he is more familiar with the city than people who are actually from there.

Wong Yat San and his wife have been married for 27 years

Yat San reveals in a recent interview that he uprooted to China all those years ago because of work. “At that time, I had three TV dramas to shoot and each would occupy my time for months, so I thought why not move the whole family to the Mainland?” he says.

He has nothing but praise for China’s showbiz industry, which he describes as vibrant, and credits it for providing him a much bigger platform to showcase his talents.

“Why not look for a bigger stage since you would still be an actor, singer, performer?” he says. “The world doesn’t wait for you, each person only has 24 hours, the world is very fair. But once you slow down, other people will catch up with you, even overtake you.”

Yat San, his wife and their two sons

Yat San says that these days, he takes time to create content for Chinese social media platforms like Douyin and Xiao Hong Shu to reach out to young people and to stay relevant.

“I have over five million followers on the Internet. You cannot keep living in the glory days of the past, you have to move with the times, and draw in the younger crowd. That’s how your showbiz career can keep going,” he says.

Photos: HK01