Pita Taufatofua, the Tongan Olympian flag bearer who stole the show in Rio after his glistening body attracted millions of viewers on the internet, has done it again.
This time he led the Tongan team inside the Guangdong Modern International Exhibition Centre.
Visitors were heard saying “Wow” as they admired his oiled torso.
He and the Tongan team were quickly followed by a growing crowd of Chinese and visitors from other countries who appeared to have known about Taufatofua from the Olympics.
“He will do it again,” Samoan Observer reporter Pai Mulitalo, who was at the scene, told Kaniva News.
After he was introduced to the visitors by Tongan Master of Ceremonies Telesia Afeaki Tonga, people from many Asian and Pacific countries, including Samoa and Fiji, were soon vying crazily to pose for photos with Taufatofua.
Asians girls in particular were smiling while having their photos taken with him.
Some touched his body and appeared elated to have the opportunity to take photos with Tauafatofua.
Some girls impersonated how he appeared and tried to look tough. They even imitated his face when he pretended to look serious when he heard people saying he has a wonderful body.
The Expo
Taufatofua was part of the Tongan delegation to Guangdong where they represented Tonga at the 2016 Guangdong 21st Century Maritime Silk Road International Expo.
The event is being hosted at the Guangdong Modern International Exhibition Center in Dongguan City in China’s Guangdong province from October 27 – 30.
The Tongan team did really well this morning during the show.
They were the only participants to perform dances and performed Tongan faivas for visitors shortly after the opening ceremony.
The Tongan team was led by ‘Ungatea Palu from Tonga Tourism and it was joined by Tonga’s former ambassador to China, Emeline Tuita and Tonga’s Miss Heilala 2016.
There are 52 countries and regions taking part in this year’s show.
A Tongan exhibition booth was one of the 2,626 set up for the event.
Tongan ngatu and table mats were displayed in the booth.
Taufatofua said he was happy and proud to represent Tonga and the Pacific as a whole.
“I have been really pushing forward to promote Tonga and the Pacific and to make sure we get out all of the best of what we have to the world,” he said.
“I am proud of representing Tonga.
“We are Tongan and Pacific Islander in the blood until we die.
“I believe that we must continue this quest to get ourselves out there.
“What’s important for me is that we make the world aware of the opportunities that we have in Tonga, including the tourism potential of Tonga.
“Mostly important is that we do it in a sustainable way that doesn’t affect negatively our culture or the values of our people.
“So we are looking at a way of promoting Tonga where we have a win-win situation, one that is good for Tonga, good for the Pacific and the Chinese.”
The main points
- Pita Taufatofua, the Tongan Olympian flag bearer who stole the show in Rio after his glistening body attracted millions of viewers on the internet, has done it again.
- This time he led the Tongan team inside the Guangdong Modern International Exhibition Centre.
- Taufatofua was part of the Tongan delegation to Guangdong where they represented Tonga at the 2016 Guangdong 21st Century Maritime Silk Road International Expo.
- Taufatofua said he was happy to and proud to represent Tonga and the Pacific.
