How to make US$100,000 a month in China, live-streaming your life

Shenyang, China

YU LI is ready for his close-up. Hair: poofed. Face: powdered. Any minute now, he will be live on camera, raking in the cash.

From a studio in the northern city of Shenyang, Yu, who goes by Brother Li, spends hours a day broadcasting on YY, a social network run by tech giant Tencent. When he cracks a joke (which is often) or gives a shout out (ditto), fans send him "virtual gifts", which represent real money.