China's going crazy over this Chinese Obama impersonator. His Obama's pretty good, but his English is terrible.


Xiao Jiguo has turned what the Chinese consider his uncanny resemblance to President Obama into a movie career, scoring a role as a low-level gangster named "Black Prince Charming" in an upcoming crime movie. Xiao says that the similarities are more than skin-deep, notes Reuters — their birthdays are one day apart, and they have the same blood type — but his English is probably about as good as Obama's Mandarin.
"My English is bad," he said through an interpreter, "so when I get on stage, I speak a mix of real English and fake English." You can see what the Chinese think English sounds like in the BBC News video below:
Xiao doesn't look that much like Obama when he's not in character (and hasn't darkened in his eyebrows), but he has Obama's expressions down pat. If his Chinese film career doesn't take off, he might have a future as a novelty act in Hollywood.
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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
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