G-Dragon’s most outrageous birthday gifts: BTS’ Army has nothing on this K-pop idol’s fans, who once decorated an entire Beijing building and even planted forests in his honour …
![G-Dragon’s fans sure know how to celebrate the K-pop idol’s birthday. Photo: YG Entertainment](https://cdn.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/768x768/public/d8/images/canvas/2021/08/17/6a8d3f62-b864-4b03-86f1-876f73a0104a_e5f3b1f3.jpg?itok=ydAuU_Bt&v=1629189864)
- Fans of BTS members Jungkook and Jimin took out advertisements and composed songs for the boys’ birthdays, while IU’s supporters made donations to good causes
- Not to be outdone, the Big Bang leader’s fan clubs put him on the front page of Sports Seoul newspaper and grew him a forest on Jeju Island
The “G-Dragon building” in Beijing
![G-Dragon once had a building covered in his honour. Photo: @MGBB88/Twitter G-Dragon once had a building covered in his honour. Photo: @MGBB88/Twitter](https://img.i-scmp.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2021/08/17/5ad74b51-ac63-4598-90ae-60c558d0c253_46552bba.jpg)
Jimin’s Chinese fan base, Park Jimin Bar, placed an ad in the world’s biggest mall in Dubai for his birthday last year. But G-Dragon’s Chinese fans actually did one better four years prior: they turned a building in Beijing into a “G-Dragon building” for the week leading up to his birthday, by posting huge photos and birthday messages all around the structure, as well as hosting an exhibition.
![A building in Beijing was filled with G-Dragon’s photos and birthday messages to celebrate his birthday in 2016. Photo: @LRUNFREE/Weibo A building in Beijing was filled with G-Dragon’s photos and birthday messages to celebrate his birthday in 2016. Photo: @LRUNFREE/Weibo](https://img.i-scmp.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2021/08/17/66361b7b-71dd-4a5f-a23f-5e2ec124efe6_449532af.png)
Pressna reported that, as his birthday is August 18, there were 818 different photos and messages from fans filling the building. Meanwhile, its exterior was emblazoned with a huge screen featuring a birthday celebration video – which was played at midnight on August 18, of course.
The front page of Sports Seoul newspaper
![A birthday message for G-Dragon on the front page of Sports Seoul newspaper. Photo: @G_ONE818/Twitter A birthday message for G-Dragon on the front page of Sports Seoul newspaper. Photo: @G_ONE818/Twitter](https://img.i-scmp.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2021/08/17/1377ffc1-3c18-4191-ac58-15d852b46040_72fe2c18.png)
You might usually expect the front page of a newspaper to be dedicated to breaking news, but in 2016, Chinese fan club G-One decided that their idol deserved to grace the cover instead. And they didn’t just put him on any newspaper, but bought a cover ad for Sports Seoul, one of the most popular newspapers in South Korea. The group posted photos of the project on their Twitter account.