Cheng Shulin

Biography

Cheng Shulin was born on April 19, 1974 into a poor family in Xinyang, Henan province, so poor that they could not afford to build a house and lived in a small room in a deserted forest farm dormitory in the village. In his youth he worked in a foundry, then moved with his wife to Yantai where he learned veterinary medicine and treated cattle. He married at the age of 17 and had four sons and a daughter. He later went to Shanghai to work as a pipe fitter laying cables, and while raising pigs in Yantai he began writing lyrics inspired by the details of his life and emotions. In 2008, while selling grilled gluten (烤面筋), he wrote a song to promote his goods. After being robbed, he became a street singer alongside a blind master, pretending to be disabled, growing his long hair and beard, and buying a bird to attract audience attention. He participated in Dragon TV's "Chinese Dream Show" in 2013 and reached the third round, which is when the nickname "Gluten Brother" (面筋哥) began to spread. He signed with a Kunming record company and released several singles. In February 2018, his interview videos went viral on Bilibili in the form of "guichu" remix videos, making him an internet celebrity. In 2024, he was diagnosed with late-stage liver cancer and was hospitalized in critical condition, and his health deteriorated until he passed away on March 29, 2025 in Zhengzhou at the age of 52.