Screen idols with a ticket to ride

"You have to always appear lively in front of the camera, even if you spend the whole day walking. When something upsets you, you need to deal with it rather than let it affect you."

Pei's vlogs are created by a team of five members, including a video editor. They draft an outline for each shoot in advance and adjust their plans according to circumstances. One vlog shows how Pei grew a little anxious when her tour guide in Vietnam turned up an hour late. But Pei soon came up with a plan B and opted to tour around on her own.

To embrace the growing trend for shooting short videos in China, travel website Mafengwo started to encourage its users to post vlogs about their trips in 2018, which has now become an important part of its user-generated content.

"It's easy to upload a short video via our app-our users can choose from various video formats, filters and background music to polish their work. When you browse our app, you soon come across an original short video uploaded by our users," says Zhao Qian, head of Mafengwo's short-video content.

According to her, its users have uploaded over 2 million short videos online, covering a wide range of themes, such as food, scenic areas and hotel experiences.