David Xiaoshan
David Xiaoshan (小山), (born January 13, 1990), better known by his Chinese stage name Xiaoshan (Chinese: 小山; pinyin: Xiǎoshān; literally: 'Small Mountain'), is a Canadian personality based in China. Relatively unknown in the West, he is one of the most famous Western personalities in China's internet media industry, where he occupied a unique position as a foreign national who had become a minor domestic celebrity, and occupies a unique hosting position in China Central Television.
Early Life
David grew up in Toronto, ON, and attended West Hill Collegiate Institute in Toronto, Canada. He began studying Chinese in his spare time after school, going to local Chinese malls, as well as studying Wing Chun and the use of nunchakus. His original Chinese name, 谷大卫 (a transliterated version of his English name), was given by his best friend from Hong Kong. During this time, he became increasingly interested in Chinese pop star Jay Chou and used his music to practice Chinese. During his time at the University of Toronto, he majored in Chinese studies and went to China to pursue a career there as an English teacher.
Early television work
While on vacation in Canada during the summer of 2015, David was invited to MC a meeting between the mayor of Markham and the mayor of Changchun. During this event, he was recognized by Edward Gong, a Toronto-based Chinese TV station president, who offered him a job. Over the next few years, his name changed to Xiaoshan, and he learned Chinese comedy, Kuaiban, TV hosting skills, and more Chinese to improve fluency. He debuted at the 2018 Chinese New Year celebration in Toronto, which propelled him to new heights in the Chinese media.
Current work
David continues to work in Chinese internet media, and he occasionally gets invited onto various national TV shows. Along with hosting large live events within China and overseas Chinese communities, he has written a book called “Conquering The Great Wall” to guide foreigners in learning the Chinese language and navigating China. He also assists Western governments, using his unique position as a cultural ambassador, on how to perceive China and how to best cooperate with them. He has also created the app called Jin Gu Bang English (金箍棒英语). This is a mobile app for iOS and Android that is geared toward helping native Mandarin or Cantonese Chinese speakers learn to speak English at an intermediate level within a few short audio lessons using vocabulary, situations, sentence structure, and grammar.
The mobile app also serves as a platform for immigration, real estate investment, overseas studies, travel, and tourism. The app was created by David Valley a.k.a. Xiaoshan to help service the growing needs of the Chinese people at home and abroad.
The app is available on the following app stores: Apple App Store, Google Play, Oppo, 360, Huawei, Baidu, Tencent, Vivo, and Xiaomi.
References
David Xiaoshan (小山)
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