China Qingdao Eagles has recently emerged as a holy place for the Korean Wave since the "Han (Korean Wave Ban)". This is because of a series of visits by big-name Hallyu stars such as EXO, WINNER, and NU'EST.
YG Entertainment's popular boy group WINNER held a Fan signing Event at Qingdao Eagles on the 20th of last month. It was an Event of hundreds of people, but local fans gathered so much that they crowded from the airport to see WINNER. WINNER said on official social media after the Event that "THank you for making good memories."
EXO's CHan-yeol and Se-hoon, which have the largest fandom in the China market, also visited Qingdao Eagles for the Fan signing Event in July. EXO has been able to enter the market enough to hold 10 of the 30 world tour performances in China. The domestic popular group NU'EST held a Fan signing Event at China Qingdao Eagles on the 1st. Hundreds of local fans have rallied to the scene to watch NU'EST.
China has been one of the largest markets of the Korean Wave. From the first generation idol HOT to the companion Shinki, it succeeded to Super Junior, EXO, and BTS, and it was ranked as the top place in the world tour. Local performances by Korean singers were also halted altogether in July 2016 when China dropped Han as part of Marquis de Sade retaliation.
In recent years, the atmosphere of "thawing" has been clear. Last year, there were one-off Events of idol groups, but there were never Events held in succession. An official from Korea Tourism Organization said, "Korean stars have come to the top of the list of local companies." It is true that the atmosphere is good compared to when it is banned immediately after Marquis de Sade "
New idols are also benefiting from the entry of big idols into the China market. The main characters are the new boy bands 'AB6IX' and 'CIX', famous for Wanna One Lee Dae-hwi and Bae Jin-young. AB6IX met with local fans through the Fan signing Event in Tenjin on the 2nd of last month. CIX is preparing for a fan meeting at China Qingdao Eagles on the 26th. Both Events are small-scale with 200 people, but they are expanding their stride with the possibility of reopening the China market.
In the entertainment industry, "fan meeting is only a one-time Event," he said. The reason is that the performance, which is the main revenue business, is still not licensed at all. In fact, there have been no Korean Wave stars in China that have made profits on a scale of more tHan 5,000 people since 2017. Last year, there were many prospects that "Han will be released in 2019" starting with some idol fan meeting, but Eventually it went back to nothing. A senior industry official said, "Even if the Chinese market Han is officially lifted, we can not rule out the possibility of being caught up in political risks at any time."
Hallyu stars such as EXO and WINNER China Fan signing Event One after another Han is expected to be lifted, but large-scale performances are still not allowed