A hobby a day helps you work, rest and play

Videos with bite

Zhang Haili thinks hobbies allow her to make better use of her spare time to enrich and control her life.

The 30-year-old native of Luohe, Henan province, is a member of staff at Shanghai University, but she also creates videos of her pet corgi dog and posts them on Bilibili, a video-sharing platform, where her account has nearly 20,000 followers.

She usually arrives at her office before 8:30 am and leaves at 5:30 pm, seldom working overtime. Her daily routine includes administrative work, arranging teaching schedules for members of the academic staff and assisting them in running lectures.

That changed during the quarantine prompted by the fresh wave of COVID-19 cases in Shanghai from March to the end of May.

For that period, she lived in a dormitory on campus and was on 24-hour call every day for campus management issues.

"I was burdened with a lot of extra work, such as collecting data about COVID-19 control, and I often worked from 7 am until midnight. Working overtime was hard, but it was nothing compared with not being able to come home and take care of my dog," she said.

"Living and working in Shanghai can be stressful. My dog has always been a great companion to me, helping me to relax and easing the feelings of isolation and loneliness. I asked a friend to look after her during the quarantine period, and it was very difficult for me to be away from her for such a long time."

Zhang started recording life with her corgi in 2018. At first, she regarded it as a random hobby and didn't expect many people to like her posts. However, after posting several videos, she gained a number of followers, which she found a little surprising.

As a result, she began managing her account on the platform more carefully, making the filming and editing of videos a regular part of her life.

Now, she is often approached by people who ask her to cooperate with them or offer her money to advertise their products. Meanwhile, Bilibili also offers rewards for creators like her, based on viewer numbers and likes of posted videos.

Zhang usually spends around two or three hours shooting and editing videos at night. Sometimes businesses, such as pet food companies, make contact and ask her to promote their products. The preparatory work for scripts and videos takes more time than her regular shoots.

Despite the attention she is receiving, she still regards her videos purely as a hobby.

"I don't want to train my dog as an animal actor to do whatever I order her to do. I just capture moments that I feel are interesting, and I tell a story based on the materials I have. I make videos for my own interest and I don't want to turn them into a tool for making money or to plan seriously as a career to step into," she said. "Sometimes, I only earn several hundred yuan for a promotional video."

As Zhang wasn't able to shoot or edit videos during the quarantine period, she did some livestreams to share her life with her fans.

Her growing fame has resulted in meaningful encounters with fans. For example, in April, one of her friends was unable to buy fresh vegetables under quarantine, so he asked Zhang for help.

When she posted her friend's information on a page for her followers on Bilibili, a fan contacted her with details of how people could order fresh food online. Thanks to that assistance, her friend and many of his neighbors were able to buy high-quality vegetables online.

"I consider my videos a great channel for me to communicate with people who share similar interests. I feel that developing various hobbies makes me live life to the full. I try to manage a lot of things in my spare time, and if I cannot find anything more interesting to do, I'll even clean the house," Zhang said.

"Making videos of my dog and posting them online is shaping my life in a positive way. I have made a lot of friends at offline events, and I love the excitement I feel when I see that some of my videos have had 1 million or 2 million hits."

Liu Xi contributed to this story.

Contact the writer at yangzekun@chinadaily.com.cn