MANILA, Philippines - What’s life like for rich Asian girls living in Vancouver? Their day starts with a champagne breakfast, a walk around town in towering Gucci heels, maybe a thousand dollar-spa treatment but definitely, nonstop gossip about other people’s atrocious taste in clothes and jewelry.
YouTube’s Ultra Rich Asian Girls in Vancouver (also known as @HBICtv) is a reality show about the controversial “fuerdai” the Chinese term for “rich second generation.” The online program features women from wealthy Chinese-Canadian families.
“Their names and identity are all real. The typical Chinese may be considered conservative, but these strong, outspoken women know what they want,” relates show producer Kevin Li.
In the show, Chelsea Jiang, Pam Zhao, Diana, Weymi Cho and Ray Rui shop, dine, party and travel till they drop. They are the Asian versions of Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian including the latter’s desire to make a name for themselves, independent of the family wealth.
“There is more to life than just shopping. They want their own business. Four of the girls studied commerce and business at the University of British Columbia. One of them even majored in Math and graduated with honors,” Kevin shared. By the way, according to Chelsea Jiang, HBIC stands for “hot bitch in charge.”
It’s a reality show, and so expect everything to be 100 percent unscripted. The glitzy hang out and other social activities are planned way ahead of time, but all the talk naturally comes from the girls.
“It is very spontaneous. The girls like to talk and at times it can be a challenge. Sometimes the conversation can get really wild. There was one episode where the girls talked about what makes the perfect boyfriend and it got very hot, and even we were too embarrassed to air it!” he said.
The show first premiered in 2014 on YouTube with over a million channel views. The idea for Ultra Rich Asian Girls in Vancouver (@HBICtv) stemmed from the public’s curiosity over the extravagant young elite. Their flashy lives have caused a stir, especially among Westerners who have to work for a living.
“I think the world is fascinated with the rise of elite Asian women because throughout history, Asian women have been seen as submissive homemakers, who were taught to find a “rich man to marry.” Now, the women have their own money, marry who they want and they can control their own destiny,” he said.
The producer admitted that first few episodes received mixed reactions. “The stereotype Chinese is quiet, hard-working and weak. In the show, they saw strong, outspoken Asians and it was quite confusing, even for locals. The Canadians didn’t know what to make of it. People thought it was a joke. For some, it was a bad representation for Asians. But Americans and Westerners were able to produce Housewives of X shows. We Asians should be able to produce anything we want and enjoy the same creative freedom.”
Kevin has been in broadcasting for 19 years. His first stint involved editing the show Easy Dancing Non-Stop with Dayanara Torres — for the Filipino-Canadian market. I loved that show,” he said.
For Ultra Rich Asian Girls in Vancouver (@HBICtv), he wanted a highly entertaining yet informative program. “It’s like hiding vitamins in candy, a show people would love to watch but also educating. If you saw Season One, Episode Two, the girls visited Canada’s first Chinatown and learned about Chinese-Canadian history.”
The glamorous life continues in the third season as the girls are about to hit Beverly Hills.