Jack Ma look-alike returns home to Sichuan cornfields

Zhou Zongchao is a celebrity in Gongxian county, in southwestern China's Sichuan province, because the 53-year-old farmer looks like Alibaba Executive Chairman Jack Ma.

Thanks to his resemblance to Ma, a household name in China, Zhou has been invited to mimic him on stage in the past two years and offered jobs by companies wishing to raise their profile.

But he has returned to his mountainous home village of Yongfu to once again eke out a living as a farmer.

"I cannot mimic Jack Ma or do well as a janitor," Zhou said.

Zhou grows corn in his fields in the village. Because the mountains nearby abound in chickenfir, a wild fungus, he collects it in summer.

"I can find between 1 and 1.5 kilograms of chickenfir a day to earn between 200 and 300 yuan ($30 and $45)," he said.

When Zhou was selling chickenfir in a town about 10 kilometers from his village one day in June 2016, a stranger who noticed he looked like Ma photographed him and sent the images to friends on WeChat.

The next day, the manager of a driving school in the county visited Zhou after seeing his photos. Believing the Ma look-alike could make his school known to prospective students, the manager sent Zhou rice and cooking oil and promised to give him a job.

But the owner of a secondhand automobile market in the county offered Zhou a higher salary as a janitor.

"I accepted his offer. The monthly salary was 1,800 yuan. In addition, I lived free of charge and had free meals," Zhou said.

Performing arts and wedding companies in the county wanted to cash in on Zhou's resemblance to Ma, inviting him to imitate the billionaire entrepreneur's manner of speaking on stage.

But Zhou is too introverted and his performances disappointed them.

"It is impossible for a farmer who operates a hoe to mimic the posture and way of speaking of Jack Ma. They no longer invite me to perform," said Zhou, who only attended primary school and cannot write many characters.

Zhou lost his job as a janitor because an automobile was stolen from the market when he was on duty.

His wife does odd jobs in Gongxian, his daughter is a migrant worker in South China's Guangdong province and his son is a high school student in Gongxian.

His fellow villagers, who used to envy him for being offered jobs that paid better than being a farmer, are not surprised he has returned to the village.

Zhou is a man of few words, they say.

If somebody talks to him, he seldom responds.

huangzhiling@chinadaily.com.cn