Bilibili's 2023 Power Up ceremony celebrated top content creators, recognizing diverse talents shaping China's digital landscape, Meng Wenjie reports.

On Jan 6, Bilibili, a prominent Chinese video platform, hosted its annual Bilibili Power Up ceremony, celebrating the top 100 content creators, known as "uploaders", on the platform in 2023.

Among the winners was Zhu Ruoxuan, a previous recipient of the award in 2021, following her two years as a vlogger.

Born in 1998, Zhu began sharing her life through videos in 2019 under the moniker "Duoduo Hualin", initially focusing on makeup tutorials. It wasn't until 2021 that she gained widespread attention with a video depicting the evolution of ordinary Chinese women's appearance and mindset from the 1920s to the 2020s, which garnered over 10 million views on Bilibili.

"The year 2021 marked the centennial of the founding of the Communist Party of China," Zhu said. "So, I combined my passion for fashion and makeup to celebrate it."

In the video, she also portrayed the facial expressions of women from different time periods, capturing their uncertainty in the 1920s, their helplessness during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45), and their confidence as female workers in the 1950s after the founding of the People's Republic of China.

Despite a lack of formal acting training, Zhu studied women in old photos and movies instead to imitate their expressions, striving for accuracy.

Over time, Zhu's videos shifted to an even greater focus on women, exploring other changes in women's images from the past to the present.

Since last year, she's started paying more attention to current social phenomena and the issues women face. "I think it's a necessary growth both for myself and my creation," she said.

One of Zhu's productions from last year highlights the transformation of Chinese women's hairstyles. At the end of the video, she depicted a character with pink hair, inspired by Zheng Linghua, a 23-year-old who faced cyberbullying due to her hairstyle and tragically ended her life while battling depression in January 2023.

"I want everyone to see that online violence can be fatal," Zhu said.

Zhu's recent videos demonstrate a more compassionate approach toward women from historical periods. For instance, she released an anti-war video on Dec 13, the annual National Memorial Day for Victims of the Nanjing Massacre, portraying the transformation of an ordinary Chinese woman before and after the massacre. This video, which took two months to create, drew inspiration from Iris Chang's book The Rape of Nanking, in which women cut their hair short to disguise themselves as men during the war.

As a native of Nanjing, Zhu felt a deep connection to the subject matter, and as a woman, she naturally focuses more on topics related to women. "I want to express my observations and thoughts through my videos," she said.

"Purrfect" protector

"Benmiao Jiao Tutu" — literally meaning "Meow name is Tutu" — is a vlogger dedicated to saving stray cats. He is so engrossed in this task that immediately after receiving the award at the Power Up ceremony in Shanghai, he promptly returned to Jinan, the capital city of Shandong province, to continue his work in catching stray cats.

The nickname "Benmiao Jiao Tutu" originates from his first cat's name, "Tutu", which is why many followers affectionately refer to him as "Daddy Tutu". Soon after adopting Tutu in 2019, he directed his attention toward abandoned cats, leading to his involvement in their rescue.

In his videos, Daddy Tutu amusingly describes the act of catching stray cats as "kidnapping" and portrays the rescue process with engaging and humorous narratives, all delivered in his distinct Shandong accent.

He is also known for giving rescued cats random and funny names. "This cat was caught in Building 3, so I'll call it 'Building 3'," he said in one of his videos.

This unique style of his videos has not only amassed a large following but also facilitated suitable adopters for the rescued cats.

As more people sought Daddy Tutu's assistance in aiding stray cats, he decided to leave his previous occupation in 2021 and become a full-time vlogger.

"I never intentionally scripted my videos," he said. "During the rescue process, I focused solely on the task at hand. Only afterward, I would find a way to transform the recorded video clips into an engaging story."

He established three guiding principles for his videos: adherence to facts, avoidance of eliciting sympathy, and the creation of interesting content.

Capturing homeless cats is a risky task. In fact, right before attending the Power Up ceremony, Daddy Tutu was bitten by a cat despite wearing protective gloves. In his videos, he consistently emphasizes the importance of self-protection when aiding these felines.

There are currently over 10 people on his team, spanning various age groups: Daddy Tutu belongs to the post-80s generation while most team members are from Generation Z. Daddy Tutu's friend, known by the pseudonym "Maodaodao", is from the post-60s generation and has also joined their efforts. "After turning 50, I wanted to pursue something I truly like. But it seems that I've increased the team's average age," he joked.

To enhance their ability to professionally aid stray cats, team members have studied cat behavior, psychology, as well as the habits and history of cats.

Daddy Tutu and his team have so far assisted over 700 cats, rescuing nearly 400 of them last year alone. Substantial expenses, including medical care and feeding, have become a huge burden. Despite having a partnership with a pet hospital that allows for a significant discount, they spent at least 400,000 yuan ($55,680) solely on medical care last year.

After receiving essential medical treatment and undergoing neutering, the rescued cats are taken to Daddy Tutu's shelter, where they learn to socialize with humans. This unique approach has led to the team being affectionately referred to as the "Cat Academy" by their followers.

The team also seeks suitable adopters who meet the adoption criteria and conducts follow-up visits to ensure proper care.

"For cats unable to establish trust with humans and unwilling to stay at the shelter, we release them back into their familiar environment after neutering," Daddy Tutu said. Due to illness or other reasons, some cats remain in the shelter as they are unsuitable for release into the wild.

"Rescuing stray cats extends beyond our individual capabilities," he said. "Through my videos, I hope to motivate more people to pay attention to this cause."

In the comment section, followers nationwide have connected, finding adopters for cats in their regions, thereby promoting the "Adopt, Don't Shop" concept.

Musical crosstalk

Simoyao (pseudonym) has maintained her position as one of Bilibili's top 100 content creators for two consecutive years.

As a member of the post-90s generation, she took pleasure in watching auto-tune remix-themed content videos and also embarked on her creative pursuits during her student years.

Starting in 2019, Simoyao began sharing her cover song creations on video platforms under the nickname "Simoyao smile".

"At that time, I did it just for fun," she said.

In 2020, when the Chinese suspense drama The Bad Kids gained widespread online popularity, Simoyao took on the perspective of the protagonist Zhu Chaoyang and composed an original piece of music. It incorporates witty lyrics and the distinct Tianjin accent, conveying her interpretation of the character.

This video attracted a considerable following and guided Simoyao toward her own creative path. "I aim to convey and share my thoughts through music," she said.

Tianjin is recognized as the hometown of many renowned crosstalk performers. As a native Tianjin resident, humor comes naturally to Simoyao. She incorporates Chinese crosstalk techniques into her musical compositions and introduces elements of northern traditional arts — such as kuaiban, a form of Chinese storytelling accompanied by the rhythm of bamboo clappers — into her music. She labeled this distinctive style as "musical crosstalk".

"Although telling jokes comes easily to me, harmonizing music with humor is actually quite challenging," she said.

Growing up in an environment enriched with music — with her mother being a jazz drum teacher and her father skilled in playing the guitar — Simoyao learned to play musical instruments at an early age and began composing songs in primary school.

After graduating in engineering in college, which did not interest her, she explored several types of jobs. But her different life and work experiences turned out to be a continuous wellspring of inspiration, nurturing her creativity after her full-time transition to a vlogger in 2020.

One of her video series, themed around school subjects, continues to be highly appreciated by her followers. This series humorously depicts a student's experiences and frustrations, which resonates with many viewers.

"Having been both a student and a teacher, I deeply empathize with them," Simoyao said.

To create this series, Simoyao would review the outlines of high school textbooks and even did the national college entrance examination papers every year.

Since 2022, this series has been consistently updated for two years, with each video receiving more than 3 million views, and some even surpassing 10 million views.

According to Simoyao, her greatest strength lies in her ability to precisely connect her videos to the everyday occurrences in the lives of ordinary people. She uses music and witty lyrics to analyze and dispel life's obstacles while conveying a positive energy.

"I'm good at expressing my feelings in words and documenting small details in daily life. I believe every little thing in life holds meaning," she said.

Simoyao recognizes that creating content in isolation can easily lead to mental stagnation, prompting her to actively pursue innovation. "In the coming year, I plan to collaborate with vloggers from diverse fields, fostering new videos and sparking fresh ideas," she said.