In rural Henan, young woman becomes video sensation

Wang Xiaonan has attracted more than 3 million followers since she made her debut on the popular Chinese short-video platform Douyin. Her first video was posted in June 2019.

Since then, the 26-year-old has produced more than 400 short videos, recording daily life with her father in a village in Huaxian county, Henan province.

Wang had a tough life after her mother left home. Wang was 2 years old at the time. When she was 8, one of her father's kidneys was removed because of an illness.

In 2013, Wang's family was registered as poverty-stricken by the local government.

That year, with money borrowed from relatives, Wang entered a college in Zhengzhou, Henan. Over the next four years, she tried to find more ways to earn money, such as serving as a part-time teacher at social institutes and selling clothes in outdoor markets. Life seemed better after she graduated in 2017. She got a job working at an advertising agency in Zhengzhou.

Meanwhile, her father's health declined. His kidney disease progressed. To take care of him, Wang quit her job and returned home in the summer of 2019.

With a smartphone and a cellphone holder, she began creating simple videos — their daily life in the fields and countryside yards, going to rural markets, doing farm work and even steaming buns. All of this became her creative material.

Without help, Wang usually spent a day finishing a video from planning to shooting and editing.

However, her genuine smile and the authentic country life presented in the videos attracted followers on the platform. They left numerous messages after her videos, showing their respect for her strong and optimistic spirit, as well as offering blessings for her future.

"The words made me feel warm," she said. "It is really a hard time for me after coming back to my hometown, but I feel happy that I can spend more time accompanying my father. In the future, I will try to improve the quality of my videos and hope to attract more followers."

She added that she will participate in more rural poverty alleviation activities, helping local farmers sell agricultural products via online platforms.