Hu Ge is apparently one of the best-known guys in China's Internet industry. The 31-year-old multimedia editor based in Shanghai made his fame by creating a parody film using footage from Wuji (The Promise), a US$35 million blockbuster released last year.

The comedy was designed to lash on the pale plot of The Promise, directed by Chen Kaige, and it delighted millions of China's Internet audiences after its online release in January.

Victor Koo is ready to cash in on the instant success of Hu's parody.
But the 20-minute parody "is too long," says Koo, president of 1Verge Inc. "Few people would watch a video clip as long as 20 minutes."

Koo, who resigned as president of NASDAQ-listed Chinese portal Sohu.com in March, has been searching for opportunities to start up a new Internet business.

He found video sites are the hottest forms of digital entertainment these days and may become cash cows in the future. In Koo's mind, such websites would allow people to post their own short videos and watch clips posted by fellow users.

Koo last month launched a video site www.yoqoo.com, which now offers video clips as funny as Hu's parody.

"That is for fun. Most Chinese office workers open the Internet Explorer for news surfing when they arrive at the office in the morning," says Koo.

"I hope they go to Yoqoo to watch funny clips to relax themselves when they are ready to leave offices in the evening. That will be a new lifestyle."

Video sites that offer clip sharing are already popular in the United States. For instance, users upload 50,000 video clips per day onto YouTube, one of the most-viewed websites in the United States.

And even the video offerings of Google and Yahoo! are also becoming increasing attractive.

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