Classmate Zhang

Digital technology has seemed to narrow the urban-rural gap and educational divide, break barriers between groups in different sectors, and make voices of ordinary people heard. Viewers who have never been to rural areas know what the countryside life looks like through videos shared by Classmate Zhang, and the grassroots video blogger has built a name in the internet era. Zhang Yuehong, associate professor at Tianshui Normal University

Getting up, opening the curtains, feeding a pig, brushing teeth, and washing face… The Chinese rural lifestyle depicted in Zhang Kai’s rustic videos attracted millions of viewers seeking to reminisce about childhood or curious about the countryside and eager to escape reality.

Zhang is far from the only example of a Chinese video blogger posting their daily lives on short-video platforms and gaining popularity. Douyin and Kuaishou are among the largest short-video applications in China. Douyin is reported to have more than 600 million daily active users, and Kuaishou more than 300 million. Short-video applications have become inseparable from people’s lives.

December 7, 2021: Zhang Kai, who posts on the account name “Classmate Zhang,” edits a video at night. The man from Yingkou City in northeastern China’s Liaoning Province became an internet sensation by posting his daily life on short-video platform Douyin, the Chinese version of Tiktok. VCG