You won’t believe what British ‘thing’ is trending in China.

Can you guess what it is about Britain that is making a big impact on the online traffic in China? Could it be the iconic British landmarks and history? The royal family? London’s vibrant fashion scene? The Barclays Premier League? You would be forgiven for thinking it was any of these things but in fact they are all wrong.

What has been trending in China is The London Underground; yes the London Underground according to BBC Trending. The London Underground also known as ‘the tube’ or ‘the underground’ is rich in history and is known all around the world by the widely recognisable logo and tube lines but yet these are still not the reasons for the underground’s popularity in China. The reason why the London Underground has been so popular recently in China is because of the “handsome” men commuting via the tubes. Sina Weibo, a Chinese micro blogging site (which is in Mandarin, currently being translated into English) is responsible for this. Images of photogenic male tube commuters have emerged on these micro blogs and been shared and liked numerous times, where a single image alone could receive over 100k shares and likes. The images receive largely positive comments generally about how good looking the individuals are. One user wrote “Handsome people really look good in anything” whist another declared “I want to take Tubes every day!”.

tubecrushpic

The pictures come from TubeCrush.net which was launched by a group of friends from London. TubeCrush.net is a British website which enables users to upload snaps of good looking men taken in secret whist on the tube. Speaking to BBC Trending, the popularity of these pictures are not much of a surprise to co-founder Stephen Motion, as he says that China is the third biggest source of traffic to their website, he then goes on to say “the website isn’t blocked in China. It’s fully available in all of the cities. We see most traffic coming from Guangzhou and Shanghai.”

Naturally, a website based on secretly taken pictures without the individual’s knowledge or consent is bound to raise some issues about legality and privacy as well as whether or not the website has an element of sexism in the way the images ‘objectify’ these men. These are issues TubeCrush.net is keen to contest; they argue that all images are legal as they were all taken in a public place. Stephan Motion also goes on to say if these individuals are not comfortable with their faces being published on their website, there is a way to get the image removed “We have a photo removal function where they can request to take it down” he then states “Interestingly we don’t receive many requests. When people discover they’ve been photographed, they’re actually quite proud.”

So why are these pictures of British men proving so popular with Chinese internet users? Ruhua Xianyu from the BBC’s Chinese Service says that Chinese people’s perception of the British man is one of good manners and politeness suggesting “When Chinese people think about British men, we think they’re true gentlemen” whilst concluding its more about the ‘quality’ of the man rather than the looks.

Thought you knew the richest man of all time? Think again!

When the topic of who is the richest man of all time arises, often times names that appear in such conversations include the likes of Bill Gates – Co-founder and head of the technology giant that is Microsoft with an estimated net worth of $136 billion , John D. Rockerfeller who’s company The Standard Oil company dominated the American oil industry and has an estimated net worth of around $340 billion, Rothschild family who founded financial houses and own or control major banking institutions around the world have an estimated net worth of $350 billion while Carlos Slim, a Mexican businessman and investor has a net worth in the region of $71 billion. A name that does not seem to make the rounds is that of Musa Keita I of Mali.

Musa of Mali also known as Mansa Musa of Mali which in translation reads “king of kings” or “emperor” of Mali reigned for 25 years from 1312 – 1337 and his inflation adjusted net worth is estimated to be in excess of $400 billion making him the most wealthy man of all time. The Mali Empire is a kingdom that is usually overlooked by many historical books. Its rich gold mines and its capital city Timbuktu which was a centre of world trade in the later Middle Ages propelled it as an empire to be reckoned with. Its leader Mansa Musa reported to even have given gold to people he came across during his travels which subsequently depressed its value in Egypt at the time [Source British Museum].

Below is a list compiled by Celebrity Net Worth which highlights the richest people of all time and their net worth. The top 12 are as follows:

  1. Mansa Musa I (Emperor of the Mali kingdom) – Net Worth $400 Billion
  2. The Rothschild Family (Established finance houses also known as the Rothschild banking dynasty) – Net Worth $350 Billion
  3. John D. Rockefeller (Started the Standard Oil company in the USA) – Net Worth $340 Billion
  4. Andrew Carnegie (Led the enormous expansion of the steel industry in the United States in the 12th He is also known as a philanthropist. – Net Worth $310 Billion
  5. Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov (Last emperor of Russian, reinged from 1894-1917) – Net Worth $300 Billion
  6. Mir Osman Ali Khan (Monarch of the Hyderabad in India reigned between 1911 and 1948) – Net Worth $230 billion
  7. William the Conqueror (King of England reigning between 1066 until his death in 1087) – Net Worth $229.5 Billion
  8. Muammar Gaddafi (Revolutionary and prime minister of Libya between 1969 until his death in 2011) – Net Worth $200 Billion
  9. Henry Ford (American industrialist and founder of the Ford Motor Company) – Net Worth $199 Billion
  10. Cornelius Vanderbilt (American business magnate and philanthropist who made his fortune in railroad and shipping) – Net Worth $185 Billion
  11. Alan Rufus (1st Lord of Richmond and cousin to William the Conqueror) – Net Worth $178.65 billion
  12. Bill Gates (Cofounder of Microsoft, investor, investor and philanthropist) – Net Worth $136 Billion