In a remote village in Anhui Province lives a 54-year-old farmer named Luo Yuanping. There is pretty much nothing remarkable about Luo Yuanping, except for the fact that he bears a remarkable resemblance to Vladimir Putin, the Russian President. He is therefore known on the Chinese internet as “Putin Bro” (普京哥).
Putin Bro’s nickname isn’t unique. “Bro” — or “brother,” depending on how you translate “哥” into English — is commonly used in Chinese memes. See, for reference, Brother Orange, the Chinese guy who ended up with a stolen phone and used it to take selfies of himself in front of orange trees, which eventually led to heartwarming international bromance. (According to reports from last year, Ellen DeGeneres and BuzzFeed are working on a film inspired by the crazy story of Brother Orange and his unlikely friend Matt Stopera.)
But back to Putin Bro. Not only does he have strikingly similar facial features — high hairline, broad forehead, thin lips, etc. — he also has blue eyes (though it’s hard to tell in pictures) and boasts a height of 5’7″. For your information, Putin is only a tad shorter, at 5’5.7″.
Putin Bro appeared on a Russian TV show once, and thoroughly freaked out the host:
Though Putin Bro received quite a bit of attention from both local and international media back in 2011, it apparently hasn’t changed him at all. He stays true to himself and lives a humble life as a farmer. Being the humble guy he is, his hope is to marry a woman he loves, although he doesn’t have the ability to do so.
Meet 50-year-old Luo Yuanpin from east China’s Anhui who became famous only for bearing a resemblance to Russian President Vladimir Putin pic.twitter.com/hkkDVjPRen
— People’s Daily,China (@PDChina) July 3, 2017
Read more about Luo Yuanpin’s unlikely brush with fame (his internet celebrity spiked again last month, when the Chinese and Russian presidents held a one-on-one meeting ahead of this year’s G20), right here.