When passion becomes a profession

Qu, a 30-year-old content creator who calls himself Augustinus Lugdunensis on the Chinese video-sharing platform Bilibili, never expected so many Chinese people would be interested in the medieval history of Europe, a niche field even for many people born there.

Having started to upload videos on Bilibili in March 2022, Qu shares the history and stories of the Middle Ages, a period spanning from about the 5th to the late 15th century. To date, he has more than 1 million followers and nearly 68 million views on the platform, and was named one of the top 100 content creators at the Bilibili 2025 UP100 grand ceremony held in Shanghai.

Qu has been fascinated by history since high school, and attended university in France where he studied medieval European history, with a focus on the Christian church and society. Referring to himself simply as a "storyteller", Qu's videos center on his professional research field and also expand to the lesser-known elements of that period, like marriage, work and diet.

"The vast majority of audiences, even Westerners today, have no real idea about what the Middle Ages and people's lives then were actually like," says Qu.

He notes that many people stereotypically view those in the Middle Ages as "ignorant and backward", but the truth is that they were essentially similar to ourselves — given the context of their social environment. Blending complex and obscure historical knowledge with well-understood narratives and visual scenes, Qu presents the people and stories in history in an innovative and vivid way.

"China boasts a vast land and profound history. Compared to young people from overseas, we see that young Chinese audiences naturally have a deep appreciation for history and ancient wisdom. We tend to feel connected to the world as a whole, and resonate with countries with diverse histories," says Qu.

Qu released his first video about the medieval period — on the topic of diet — nearly three years ago, and it was an instant success, with more than 2 million views. The positive feedback Qu received gave him the confidence to become a full-time content creator, and constantly drives him to share the little-known stories of the Middle Ages with a wider audience. It can take over two weeks for him to produce a single episode, but Qu enjoys being a storyteller.

Despite being one of Bilibili's top 100 content creators for 2025, Qu is still a "newcomer". Over 60 of the top 100 creators have been making content on the platform for between five and 10 years, while 18 of them have been doing it for more than a decade. Between them, the top 100 creators have over 49,000 videos with a cumulative runtime exceeding 990,000 minutes, garnering a total of more than 65.6 billion views.

Launched in 2018 to encourage quality original content creation, the top 100 award is evaluated across criteria including professionalism, influence and innovation. The winners come from a wide range of fields, demonstrating the diversity and vitality of China's thriving content creation ecosystem.

Yu Zhenhua, 28, from Shanghai has been a full-time content creator on the platform for five years. Having started by chance, he now sees it as his career and future. Appearing in the top 100 list for the first time, Yu's videos are mostly about life experiences both in and out of China, through which he hopes to inspire his audience and help them better understand people's differences.

For Guo Yu, who has made it into the top 100 for a second time — first appearing in 2020 — being a content creator is a dream job. Making his debut on Bilibili in 2018, the 31-year-old creator now has more than 3.68 million followers, and is dedicated to making quality content for his audience.

Guo describes himself as passionate, inspirational and good at "making anything boring interesting". Compared to television and other forms of media, he says that making shows for online platforms allows him to have a closer connection to his audience and also allows him to have direct interaction.

"It's a privilege to be able to share my daily life and make people laugh. It is the thing I truly love and what I am good at doing. Also, it allows me to travel and expand my worldview," says Guo.

Interest and passion are the main driving forces for most content creators, including Chu Yunfei and Ma Peiyao. Both 29, they have been running the account Geekerwan on Bilibili since 2016, attracting nearly 5 million followers. Specializing in in-depth reviews and technical analysis of tech and digital products, Geekerwan was listed among the top 100 content creators on Bilibili for the seventh time this year.

The pair started making videos based on their own personal interests and their desire to share these with others, and they still stay committed to the goal of "sparking everyone's interest in technology". Furthermore, as they are so close to both the world of technology and consumers, they hope they can contribute more to the industry and effect positive change and growth, an area in which they have already had some success, namely in the improvement of laptops' battery life.

"Back in the day, the average battery life was just one to three hours at best — if you can remember that. But if you go buy a laptop today, you should expect at least five or six hours — some even last up to 10 hours," explains Ma.

"We've been pushing for this improvement all along. It is truly a win for the entire industry, and indeed for everyone who uses these products. It is incredibly gratifying to see this happen, and we see it as our greatest achievement," Chu adds.