Yibo GQ April 2026 Cover - Spread and Article (Translated)
Placed right in the center of the rooftop was a low “streetlamp” about a meter tall. Wang Yibo only asked, “Is this stable?” and then climbed up. For quite a while, he tilted his head back, eyes closed, resting, occasionally swaying lightly, brushing back his windblown hair with his hand. Sitting high up there, his clothes puffed up in the wind. In that moment of his life, he seemed to be enjoying the gale.
On a rooftop near Guomao, tents, a streetlamp, a sofa, a water tank, and a ladder had been set up. On the day of the shoot, Beijing was hit by its biggest sandstorm of the year. On a rooftop thirty floors up, people could barely keep their footing. Fierce winds carried black sand and grit as people rushed toward the racks of clothes and jewelry, using their bodies to hold down the tents whipping in the air. Filming was urgently paused. Would the wind stop? If not, what would happen next? Someone asked, is there a Plan B?
The wind showed no sign of stopping, and the original plan no longer worked.
The first problem was the tent. Set up on the rooftop for hanging clothes and changing, it had seemed sturdy, but now it tossed like seaweed in a current. We had no choice but to take it down and quickly move all the clothing and accessories. Wang Yibo had to go to the neighboring building to change, or use a narrow stairwell. Neither option was comfortable.
The second problem was how to maintain a presentable look in the wind. Fortunately, the second setup involved a sofa. When he lay down, the thick leather formed a kind of small barrier, offering some protection from the wind coming from all directions.
But sometimes, accidents lead to unexpectedly good results.
In the wind, Wang Yibo revealed a different kind of state. Perhaps the roaring sound reminded him of speeding on the racetrack. Perhaps the force of nature brought back the sense of isolation and focus from outdoor climbing. Or perhaps the wind was simply too strong, forcing complex movements aside and giving him space to drift in thought.
While everyone else was anxious about how the footage would turn out, he looked completely at ease in front of the camera.
Spending time around Wang Yibo gives you this feeling: even when he is standing right beside you, he already seems to have withdrawn into his own world. He pours all his passion into that world. Yet it is not that he deliberately chooses a path different from the one designed for him. Rather, these things seem to hold a natural pull for him, like racing, like climbing. If there is a common thread between them, it might be that they both offer a great deal of time alone with oneself.
The wind kept blowing. Wang Yibo climbed up swiftly. The photographer pressed the shutter, and a burst of exclamations broke out from the crowd: “That looks great!” Against an empty background, his feet rose above the skyline. Sitting there alone, he looked like he was in a driver’s cockpit, or suspended against a cliff during a descent.
Standing below and looking up at him from this angle, I was reminded of the book The Baron in the Trees by Italo Calvino. Standing atop the trees, “he sees everything, yet remains indifferent to it all.” He persists in being himself in a way that seems almost impossible, while still remaining connected to the world. Wang Yibo shifts his center of gravity between different worlds, searching for a kind of balance. But in this moment, paused on the rooftop, he is simply enjoying the feeling of the wind.
The enjoyment of sports is not just about sweating. Strong performance also requires thinking and coordination. You could say it is the ultimate expression of strength, with a sense of softness flowing within it.
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