Content creator, business consultant, fintech firm partner... one job-title does not adequately describe Thomas Derksen and his thriving business in China.

But to Chinese audiences, the 29-year-old is best known as the German comedian who entertains millions of internet users across the country with his hilarious video blogs and an auspicious Chinese name: Afu (meaning fortune or luck).

As a foreigner-turned-internet celebrity in China, Derksen looks at Chinese stereotypes, speaking the local dialect fluently in his self-made video episodes. In a year's time he has garnered over 5 million followers across major video content platforms from QQ to Meipai.

Hailing from Cologne, Derksen worked at a local bank for three years before he studied East Asian Politics and Economics for his university major at age 23. An exchange program at Fudan University landed him in Shanghai, where the city's cosmopolitan nature and its dizzy pace mesmerized him.

"I've always aspired to do something that is international and influential, and China is the best place I can think of right now," he said.

More importantly, he met his would-be wife, a Shanghai denizen who later became the main source of inspiration for his "acting" career.

Derksen said he did not want to be shackled to an office job. So the couple trained their sights on Shanghai with a desire to "make something bigger than working for other people".

The whole idea of creating videos was the result of a boring weekend in 2015, he recalled. His wife saw a job advertisement for a live TV show on expats' lifestyle in China, and encouraged him to sign up for it.

The program was a hit. He improved his language and acting skills, and harvested a catchy Chinese name: Afu. When the TV program ended, the idea of starting his own show naturally surfaced.

His maiden work, What's It Like to Marry a Shanghai Woman?, went viral. Derksen impersonates his mother-in-law, a typical middle-aged Shanghai woman in her apron, dominating the kitchen area of the apartment.