Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
A Chinese mother who once dragged her teenage son out of internet cafes for playing too many video games is now the one spending hours behind a computer screen, and she has 5,27,000 followers watching her do it.
Zhong Juanjuan, affectionately known online as Auntie Juan, has become a popular gaming livestreamer in southern China despite only picking up computer games six years ago. The 60-year-old now hosts two livestreams every day, with each session typically attracting around 10,000 viewers, according to the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
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Zhong lives in a suburban area of Meizhou in Guangdong province. Before discovering gaming, she had worked various part-time jobs, including sales and childcare, after completing only primary school. She retired around a decade ago.
Her journey into gaming began in 2020, when she watched her younger son, known online as Suode, spending long hours playing games at home after leaving his job. The sight was particularly ironic given their history.
Around two decades earlier, when Suode was still in secondary school, his gaming habit had become such a concern that his grades dropped. Zhong would regularly go looking for him at local internet cafes and sometimes physically drag him home, sparking years of arguments over his obsession with games.
But after seeing him play again years later, her attitude changed. Curious about what had kept him so hooked, Zhong decided to try gaming herself. Suode was initially surprised but agreed to teach her.
The lessons were hardly smooth. Zhong struggled to navigate the game, sometimes walking straight into walls, turning around instead of changing direction and finding even virtual stairs difficult to climb. Her declining eyesight and slower reactions added to the challenge.
She refused to give up, however, and kept practising until she became confident enough to start livestreaming in 2022.
What made viewers take notice was the unlikely combination: an ordinary-looking grandmother from rural China sitting in front of basic streaming equipment while playing shooting games with impressive skill and casually using gaming slang more commonly associated with younger players.
Zhong has now logged more than 8,000 hours of gameplay. Her biggest moment came in December 2024, when she was invited to take part in an online exhibition match of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Among her opponents was 17-year-old Russian gaming prodigy “donk”, who had just become a world champion.
Zhong stunned viewers by eliminating him during the match.
Her growing popularity also brought its share of scepticism. Some people online suspected that someone else was secretly controlling the game for her. To settle the doubts, Suode installed multiple cameras, so viewers could see his mother from different angles while she played.
Her age has also prompted criticism from people who believe women her age should spend their time on more conventional pursuits. Zhong, however, has pushed back against the idea.
“As a mother, should I only be relegated to household chores?” she asked.
She has also argued that gaming keeps her mind active and improves hand-eye coordination. “It is never too late to start learning something new,” she said.
The role reversal with her son is now complete. Suode, who once had his gaming interrupted by his mother, works as her full-time agent today. He even makes sure the internet is switched off at midnight so that his mother does not stay up playing for too long.
Zhong recently got another reminder of how far her gaming journey has taken her when a middle-aged man recognised her at a wet market and told her he had seen her playing online.
For someone who once considered video games a problem to be solved, Auntie Juan has certainly found an unexpected way to make them part of her life.
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
