Life and Leisure

Watching over the stars

By Gao Changxin (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-09-24 08:09

Wang Yi and his colleagues must stay close to film star Zhou Xun and other celebrity clients. Provided to China Daily

Wang Yi is handsome, well built and charming, but most journalists hate him.

While he has the privilege of shadowing personalities such as NBA star Lebron James and pop singer Andy Lau, he does his to best to stop others from doing so.

The bodyguard of heavyweight celebrities represents the crme de la crme of Shanghai's personal security personnel. Wang and his team are the first choice when it comes to escorting an international celebrity visiting Shanghai.

In his eight-year career, the 30-year-old has escorted more than 100 celebrities from all parts of the world.

He looks exactly like the big guys you see in gangster movies: a cubic face, masculine arms, black suit and shades. Only he doesn't wield a gun and has vowed never to resort to violence.

In fact, bodyguards are always at the receiving end of violence, trying to keep eager journalists and fans at bay.

"They (the fans) get angry when we are trying to make our way through the crowd. I usually find scratches on my face, neck and hands after a job," Wang says.

"But we never fight back, it is a rule. We just block them with our body, push them lightly at the most. We'd be fired if we hurt a fan."

But, to be fair, Wang points out that neither he, nor any of his colleagues or his celebrity clients, has been subjected to a malicious attack so far.

"Fans and the paparazzi are crazy sometimes, but they never pose real threats. Terrorists and criminals do, but the police won't let them get that close," Wang says.

The paramount skill for a bodyguard like him, he says, is blocking - choosing the right position to cordon off people rushing towards the star in question.

"Blocking is much harder than it seems. You have to stay alert every second and be able to gauge which direction they (potential cordon-breakers) are coming from. You have to move in advance, if you move after you see them coming, it is too late," he says. "It is all about experience."

With eight years' experience, Wang can recognize almost the entire clan of paparazzi in Shanghai.

He says the paparazzi sometimes disguise themselves as hotel staff and sneak into the celebrities' rooms to take photos.

"The first thing I do on a job is to locate where they might position themselves. They give up the tricks they typically use when they see me."

Having shadowed celebrities round-the-clock for years, Wang is now quite knowledgeable about celebrity idiosyncrasies, but doesn't want to go into details. "The bigger the name, the greater the eccentricities," is all he would say.

Like most of his colleagues, Wang too has a military background. He was an armed police officer for four years before switching to his current profession. A bodyguard's training regimen is just like that of a soldier, only more demanding, he says.

He trains in unarmed combat, tactical driving, first aid, crowd screening and control in his spare time.

Wang and his team have a training base in the Pudong district. The company hires retired, high-ranking military professionals for the program. Classes are held to brush up their basic spoken English skills, helping them to communicate better with foreign clients.

Escorting the Taiwan boy band F4 on their maiden trip to Shanghai for a concert in 2002, Wang says, was his most challenging assignment. The band's popularity had snowballed after a TV serial helped them shoot to fame.

"It was a nightmare. There seemed to be millions of teenage girls at the airport, shouting, jostling and some even took off their shirts. The situation almost went out of control. For a moment I thought we would be snowed under," Wang recalls.

"But then if I were a girl, I would fall for them too," he says, conceding that the singers were indeed very handsome.

Over-enthusiastic fans and journalists angling for an exclusive interview or a photo-opportunity with the star he is protecting have offered to bribe him. But the risk entailed is not worth losing a job of 70,000 yuan ($10,400) a year, Wang says.

The salary is not all that great, given the high living standards in Shanghai. But Wang's family pitched in with the down payment of his 50-squre-meter apartment. He has had it easier than his colleagues living in rented apartments, he says.

"Frankly, I am not in this job for money. I really enjoy escorting the big names and attending big-time events," Wang says.

"One day if I have a kid, I will be able to show him my pictures and tell him the stories. That must make him proud of his dad," he says, wishfully.

China Daily