Chinese fans have gone wild for Declan Rice after he joined a social media site and introduced himself as 'your favourite rice'. The 27-year-old England star posted a highlight package on the Chinese network Rednote, along with a video message to fans ahead of the World Cup. He said: 'Hi, this is Declan Da Mi (rice in Chinese) here. Your favourite rice is going to be on Rednote. Give me a follow.'
Fan Reactions Pour In
The post quickly attracted thousands of comments. One fan wrote: 'We all love Rice.' Another quipped: 'Rice, Rice, baby.' A supporter said: 'Let's go Three Lions. Bring the championship home.' Others shared selfies taken with the Arsenal midfielder, who helped his side win their first Premier League title in 22 years.
Another fan commented: 'Rednote is so great, even someone like me who doesn't really watch football can see the handsome guys in the World Cup.' Rice is the latest football star to join the platform, but not everyone was thrilled. One user asked: 'Why have they all flooded in recently?' To which someone replied: 'Just trying to ride the World Cup hype.'
Rice's Activity on Rednote
Rice first posted five days ago, following up with a photo gallery from the Premier League title celebrations and photos from England's 3-0 warm-up win over Costa Rica in Florida, where he scored the opening goal. Fans also reminded him to apply sun cream after he appeared sunburned in his official tournament photo. One said: 'Stay protected from the sun and don't get burned.' Rice admitted he struggled with the Florida sunshine and got a telling-off from his mum for getting sunburnt.
In another video, he promotes a car and refers to himself as 'Da Mi', meaning rice in Chinese. It is common for Western celebrities to have Chinese nicknames. For example, Mariah Carey is known as 'Cow Sister', a compliment to her talent. Taylor Swift is called 'méi méi' (unlucky or moldy) due to her early career struggles, and Jennifer Lopez is known as 'luó bà' (Lord of Butt).
