- Joined
- Aug 16, 2022
Interview with Kami Chinese fan club representative about her popularity in China and other things
– Our fan association is the largest support group for Kamila in China. We have accounts in Weibo and WeChat. Fans of all ages join us, but most of them are students or those who are already working. First of all, I would like to introduce our team, and not myself personally, to show how big Camilla's support group is.
– What attracted you to Kamila?
– Kamila won me over with her sliding, movements, poses and expression of emotions on the ice. I watched all her competitions, and she amazed everyone with her beauty and strength. She broke record after record, and deservedly – all thanks to talent and hard work.
– Has the number of Camila's fans increased after the Beijing Olympics?
– To be honest, a lot of people from the fan club did not attach much importance to figure skating before the 2022 Winter Olympics. But since the Olympics were held in Beijing, almost everyone in China was interested in this event, and also saw Kamila there.
After all, figure skating is not a sport that attracts a huge audience in China, but thanks to the Olympics it has become popular, a large fan base has been formed. On the Chinese Internet, Kamila became known as the "hexagon fighter" (which means her versatility and lack of flaws).
– Why is it a Russian figure skater, and not someone from your native country?
– Kamila is our favorite figure skater because she is a genius, number one, the best in women's singles skating. We love her for who she is as a person, not just for what kind of figure skater she is. Kamila's appearance is considered very popular and attractive in China, she is called very beautiful and cute.
Besides, some things can be felt through cultural and language barriers - and they touch the heart. Things like talent and fragility of genius, patience and youthful perseverance, absolute beauty ... we really hope that all this will be in her for a long time. We would like to accompany her in this process.
– How did your fan association begin? How many fans does Camila have in China now?
– We started to gather an audience in social networks during the Beijing Olympics, and it grew rapidly – people had a strong interest and desire to communicate. For the first time we were able to contact Kamila when she returned from Beijing – we gave a gift through the Russian support group TeamKValieva.vk. The transfer process was captured on video. After the video appeared on social networks, everyone was amazed by Kamila's cute reaction when she heard that it was from Chinese fans – pure happiness! So our first time turned out to be very memorable. From that moment on, we supported her at ice shows, at exams, sent gifts for her 16th birthday, before the start of the school year… And we will continue to support you in the new season, so follow us on social networks and on ice rinks!
Kamila has not started accounts on Chinese social networks, so we follow her on other platforms and then share information with fans in China. We had no idea of creating an official fan club in China, let alone an international fan account. But after the interview with Kamila, you realize that popularity did not become a burden for her, she just had to go through hard times.…
These words touched us, so we thought more people should see the work of Chinese fans. We hope to unite with Kamila's fans from other countries to gather all the support and send it to her. And the very association of fans from China grew very spontaneously – thanks to the love for Kamila, her skating. We hope to give her some emotional motivation in her career.
We wanted to give Kamila a lot of birthday presents so that she would remember her 16th birthday. So we made a group on WeChat, and a huge number of fans joined it!
Kamila's fan group on Weibo now has more than 315 thousand subscribers, but not everyone has gathered there - there are also a large number of fans in the Chinese version of TikTok. We can say that in China they love Kamila very much!
– Which of the gifts turned out to be the most significant and memorable?
– First of all, we would like to say that the content and form of gifts is not an end in itself for us. We hope that thanks to various support methods, Kamila will feel our love. We will inspire her and help her persevere through her path in figure skating.
It seems to me that all our gifts carried meaning, and Kamila liked them, because she really appreciates the love and attention of fans. We have already sent a lot of presents and will prepare even more in the future.
We prepare gifts with a completely different mood. Sometimes it's like an older sister who wants to please the younger one with fashionable clothes and accessories, the latest gadgets and toys. At the same time, Kamila is such an athlete who inspires a lot of people who create art: they draw pictures, for example. Despite the fact that we cannot come to Russia now, we have come up with and developed a huge number of support options from fans from China. They will appear at the ice rinks where Kamila will compete in the new season.
Frankly speaking, the support I described above is very common in China – this is what fans of famous actors, singers, and show participants do. But for our Russian friends, this is something new and fresh, so we hope that it will inspire Kamila and bring a little fun to the tournaments.
– Is it difficult to support Camila from afar?
– I don't think there are many difficulties in this, even if we are far away and can't come to Moscow to see Kamila live. But we hope that we can convey our love to her! Thanks to social networks, we can support Kamila from afar, we hope she feels our faith and love.
Previously, the biggest difficulty was the time difference – five hours compared to Moscow. For example, Russian fans were streaming from an ice show, and by our time it was already the dead of night, almost dawn. When Kamila participated in Tatiana Navka's show, many of us did not go to bed until three in the morning, until updates from Kamila or other participants of the performance arrived.
I would like to say a special thank you to Teamkvalieva.vk (Kamila's official support group in Russia. – "Championship"), with whom we have been working for several months. They do a lot for Chinese fans – they give gifts and help us share love with K-Bao! Thanks to our Russian friends for all this.
– And what does the nickname "K-Bao" mean?
– "Bao" can be translated from Chinese as "Baby" (baby), "treasure". This is a very cute nickname that expresses our attitude towards her. Her diligence, beauty and strength helped her win the love of a huge number of people and make them applaud her. Kamila is our best baby!
This nickname appeared a few years ago, when Kamila was a real cute child, and now "Bao" has acquired a deeper, beautiful meaning in the fan environment.
– Have you ever been to Russia or other countries to see Kamila's performances?
– It was the first figure skater that we liked, so we have not been to Russia for competitions. In the future, we would definitely like to see Kamila's skating live!
– If an ice show with Russian figure skaters is organized in China, would you attend it?
– If Kamila comes to China to participate in the ice show, of course I will attend it! It doesn't matter in which city it will take place, I will definitely come to see it. I think all Chinese fans will have a similar opinion.
– How do you feel about the international ban of Russian athletes?
– We oppose the ban of Russian athletes at competitions, because we believe that sport has no borders and should not somehow relate to politics. All athletes give their years to training and hard work. In order for the competitions to be fair, all athletes must participate in them, good athletes cannot be restrained. In particular, this applies to Kamila: she is the best figure skater on the planet, and if she can't compete, then it seems to me that tournaments lose their meaning.
– Did the doping scandal involving Kamila affect your attitude towards her? What do you think about this situation?
– We all don't believe in the doping story from the Olympic Games. Chinese fans believe Kamilla, we can all see her capabilities and her superiority. Since the best athlete is restrained in this way, we support her only more and trust her completely.
Most of the fans from China turned into fans of Kamila thanks to the Olympics. On the Bilibili website, under the video with Kamila (which has gained millions of views), a lot of people wrote in the comments: "See you in Milan!". On Kamila's 16th birthday, congratulations appeared on the Chinese TikTok account of the Xinhua news agency, as well as on the account of the Russian embassy in China - and people also left wishes for Kamila in the comments. A lot of people wrote: "Let's K-Bao come to China for ice shows!". Even though Kamilla has no social media accounts, ordinary users speak very warmly about her and wish her well
– What do you expect from Camila in the new season?
– We already know the music for the short program – this is the soundtrack to the movie "Interstellar". One of my favorite movies! There is greatness and dynamics in this music, I think it will suit Kamila perfectly. She has always been very disciplined, kept herself in the best condition, and we are very much looking forward to her performances in the new season. I believe that she will give us a lot of surprises! The most important thing is that she stays healthy.
For the upcoming season, we sent a lot of gifts: the package in July weighed about 50 kg. In August, we prepared another batch: a 309 kg parcel was sent by international delivery from Beijing to Moscow. We will continue to cook and announce it on our page, we hope everyone will like it!
Ками*Stellar 
