Funny business

Provided to China Daily

While only Chinese expatriates attend these overseas shows because of the language barrier, nearly all of them sell out in advance.

"I've found a big overseas market, because there aren't many chances for Chinese who live abroad to see cross-talk," he says.

"Performing anywhere in the world is the same to me. I'd like to tour more overseas."

Next year, Guo plans to return to Australia and the US, and debut in a number of European countries.

Tickets for Guo's US tour ranged from $68 to $398. The best tickets for his Australian shows last year cost 498 Australian dollars ($522).

Recommendation: Erhu star plays folk tunes for the future Traditionally, the erhu is known for its plaintive melodies.

Guo won thunderous applause during his US tour in October and November through Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston and New York. The audiences especially enjoyed his use of some English words.

"You must adapt to the local environment," Guo says.

"Different cities have different funny things, and I like to use them in my performances."

The Chinese audiences in the US responded to his jokes with the same "yuuuuu..." sound that home audiences make at earthy punch lines, which has been popularized through the Internet.

The audiences even recited some of Guo's popular lines in unison.

Guo performs more than 70 shows a year, but most people access his work online.

Most Internet videos of him were recorded on the mobile phones of people attending his live shows.

But Guo doesn't fuss about his intellectual property rights.

"More than 95 percent of the DVDs of me are pirated, and that's not to mention what's online," he says.

"I can't stop this. And, in a way, I believe it's good for the promotion of cross-talk."

Recommendation: China Embroidery Culture and Arts Festival 5th China Embroidery Culture and Arts Festival opens in Suzhou.