Moonwalking in Beijing

Zhang Guanhui participates in a dance competition portraying Michael Jackson. [Photo/China Daily]

Generally, the coins and small notes he collects amount between 100 ($16) and 300 yuan after a whole evening's dancing. That's far from enough to support a normal life in Beijing, let alone the costumes. His decorated jacket, which he describes as "70 percent" like the one Jackson wore on stage, cost 2,600 yuan. So he works part-time as a doorkeeper. Most of his income is spent on more costumes, shoes and sound equipment.

To lower his living costs, Zhang resides in suburban districts, so he often has to travel two hours by subway to his stage in Sanlitun. The room he rents measures 7 square meters, barely enough for the things he values most: his costumes, dancing shoes, makeup bag - and a photograph taken with his father. During a ventriloquism performance on Hunan TV, the host invited his father without telling Zhang in advance.

"When dad appeared I almost cried out on the stage," he says. "That's the first time we were on TV."

Like his idol, Zhang makes donations to the less fortunate - despite his tiny income.

"I think truly impersonating Michael Jackson means doing it with both body and soul," he says. In 2013, he and a friend helped a lost child wandering in the streets find his family in Guizhou province. It took half a year for Zhang to earn the money necessary while his friend tracked down the family, he says, "but it was worth it. We were so glad to see the child going home at last."

Moments like that make the dancer treasure the supporters who gather to watch him every night, he says. "It is through our joint efforts that the spirit of MJ lives on."