India may be flooded with Made in China products but when it comes to films, it is quite clear that the Chinese have developed a taste for Indian films. China has emerged as one of the biggest overseas markets for Indian films in recent times. However, when it comes to actors, it is Aamir Khan -- or Uncle Aamir as he is known there -- who has emerged as a top favourite among Chinese movie-goers. After all, his 2016 film Dangal has had a phenomenal run at the Chinese box office. The film opened in 9,000 screens there on May 5, 2017 and went on to earn about Rs 1,330 crore in China alone, taking its global box office earnings to a stupendous Rs 2,000 crore, a first for an Indian film. [caption id="attachment_229358" align="aligncenter" width="953"] Poster of Dangal[/caption] Of course, it was not the first time that 'Uncle Aamir' witnessed success in China. His earlier films, PK and 3 Idiots, also made it big at the Chinese box-office. 3 Idiots, which released in 2011, was the first Bollywood film to crack the Chinese market incidentally with collections of over Rs 100 crore. It was followed by PK, which released in 2015 and which went on to earn about Rs 121 crore in China. RECOMMENDED READ: Aamir Khan to jet off to North Ireland after celebrating his birthday with media? While Bollywood films like My Name is Khan (2010) and Happy New Year (2014) did release in China before Aamir's films, his unprecedented success was leaps and bounds ahead of them, which made him a household star in China. But what was the reason behind it all? Well, to say the least, the audience was able to relate to the story of a wrestler in Dangal, who defies gender norms to train his daughters to become champion wrestlers. The Chinese could draw parallels between the two cultures. Not to forget, Aamir's character in 3 Idiots of an engineering college student, who highlights the unhealthy academic pressure on students, also found resonance among the youth in China. In fact, it was touted that Aamir could be the next Raj Kapoor since he was one superstar who first got them humming Indian film songs in the 1950s. More so because after 1970s, it was Hollywood which caught the imagination of the Chinese audience and certainly not Hindi drama films. Interestingly, after PK and Dangal reignited the faded craze of the Indian films, several Bollywood films tried to encash on the success. Be it Salman Khan's Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2018) to Irrfan's Hindi Medium (2019) and SS Rajamouli's Baahubali series, a host of filmmakers tried their luck to hit the bull's eye in China. Aamir also released his another film Secret Superstar in 2018 and it went on to mint more than Rs 700 crore in China. However, his cinematic outing Thugs of Hindostan got a lukewarm response from both audiences and critics in China, just like his 2014 film Dhoom 3. So let's end it by saying that not every film may work in China but Aamir is certainly Bollywood's beacon of hope in the country. [caption id="attachment_229361" align="aligncenter" width="1100"] A still from Thugs of Hindostan[/caption] Now as the actor celebrates his birthday today, let's thank him for turning everybody's attention to the world's second-largest box office and shattering the logic that Chinese cannot sing, dance and make merry, like the Indians. Clearly, the Chinese are taking to Indian films -- and Aamir is indeed the force behind it.