Chinese ex-esports star turned travel blogger Blue Zhanfei was kidnapped in Cape Town, South Africa, lost 1.088M RMB, warns against oversharing travel plans and wealth.
Lan Zhanfei had barely landed in Cape Town and had been lying in his hotel room for less than three hours when a knife was pressed against the back of his neck. Three masked men silently opened the door, pinned him down on the bed, and pressed the cold blade against his skin. Over the
next four hours, his captors forced him to transfer all the funds from his bank account,use his phone to apply for online loans, and held his hand to scan every required fingerprint. They warned him that if he dared to call the police, they would track him down across borders and harm his family. During this ordeal, he endured unspeakable humiliation; he clenched his fists, dared not struggle, and didn’t even dare to breathe heavily.
It wasn’t until the footsteps of security guards from the Chinese Consulate General in Cape Town echoed down the hotel hallway that the knife was finally removed from his neck. As he pushed himself up from the carpet, his entire shirt was soaked through with cold sweat.
The victim of this ordeal was once a top star in the esports scene who, after transitioning careers, became a travel blogger with tens of millions of followers. In December 2025, the Chinese Consulate General in Cape Town publicly confirmed that he had been kidnapped in South Africa; ultimately, a total of 1,088,000 yuan was forcibly transferred from his account.The trigger for the
incident was straightforward: before his trip, he had fully disclosed his travel plans for South Africa on public social media platforms, and had previously mentioned in public that his annual income was in the nine-digit range.Such unabashed displays of wealth effectively placed him squarely in the crosshairs of danger. Compounded by Cape Town’s already poor public safety conditions, criminals had long since bribed hotel staff and had been lying in wait inside the hotel for quite some time.
This trip was supposed to be the first stop on his round-the-world journey;
he had planned to travel from Cape Town to Antarctica, but as soon as he landed, a suspicious-looking person approached him to strike up a conversation.An unlicensed fake taxi was parked by the roadside, blocking the exit. He circled the area three times, clutching his luggage, before finally managing to escape—only to discover, upon entering the hotel, that the criminals had followed him inside.A subsequent
official statement made it clear that, due to local security conditions and limitations on evidence collection, the extorted funds are highly unlikely to be recovered.
After the incident was made public, most people who learned the details couldn’t help but hold their breath for him.Ordinary people spend most of their lives scrimping and saving to build a livelihood, and when traveling far from home, they often don’t realize that casually posting travel updates or mentioning their income offhand can put themselves in danger.
From now on, when traveling, we must exercise greater caution: avoid flaunting wealth and do not casually disclose your itinerary. Staying safe is what matters most.
