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Celebrity Life

Wait—Who's Linda? Chinese actress Zhang Yingfei shocked to learn she's a meme in the Philippines

By Bianca Geli
Published March 6, 2026 3:22 PM PHT
Updated March 6, 2026 4:42 PM PHT

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Zhang Yifei


Zhang Yingfei was surprised to learn she had gone viral in the Philippines as her drama character, Linda Walker.

Chinese actress Zhang Yingfei didn't immediately realize she had gone viral in the Philippines, and certainly not under the name “Linda Walker.”

During a recent livestream on Douyin, the 21-year-old actress said she was confused after seeing English comments repeatedly calling her “Linda.” Since she uses Fifi as her English name, she initially thought the messages were meant for someone else.

“I said, maybe the comments are wrong. My name isn't Linda,” Yingfei shared.

She translated the English comments into Chinese to understand what viewers were talking about. That's when she realized they were referring to her role in scenes circulating online from her drama. She plays Linda Walker, a character in the Chinese drama series The Heiress Who Won With Brains (The Real Heiress She Is a Top Student), which aired in China in September 2025.

This amused Yingfei. She admitted she had no idea the series had gained traction in the Philippines, or that viewers there recognized her by a completely different name.

The drama The Heiress Who Won With Brains was originally produced for Chinese audiences. However, it unexpectedly found a following in the Philippines after English and Tagalog-dubbed clips began circulating widely online.

One particular scene shows her character taking a high-level mock exam and scoring 719 points, far beyond the usual 400-500 range. The dubbed line, “Ang nakuhang score ni Linda ay 719, highest scorer,” quickly turned into a meme across TikTok, YouTube, and other social media platforms.

Now that she knows about the attention, Yingfei appears to be taking it in stride, amused that many Filipino viewers have come to know her best as Linda Walker.

@kyouheisama HAHAHAHA Linda Walker and Nancy Lewis from the viral Chinese short drama “The Heiress Who Won With Brains” went live on Douyin (Tiktok of China) and casually found out they're viral in the Philippines.😂 Zhang Yingfei a.k.a Fifi, who played Linda, was laughing when she learned that in the Filipino dubbed version her name is LINDA. Welcome to the Philippines, Linda. You didn't choose us. We chose you. lols 🤣 The globalization of Filipino meme culture needs to be studied. One minute you're acting in a short drama, the next minute you're the unofficial ambassador of exam excellence in another country. 719 points for the win! CSAT, NCAE, CSE, UPCAT whooo???? Bwahahaha #TheHeiressWhoWonWithBrains #LindaWalker #LIVEIncentiveProgram #Monetize #PaidPartnership ♬ original sound - IamShidi

Credit: @kyouheisama (TikTok)

Meanwhile, here are some Thai actresses making waves in the Philippines