The boy rose to social media fame when his uncle, Nick Mastodon, uploaded Thomas' videos to Vine in the spring of 2014 that record the boy's reaction to a lizard crawling on his forehead. Thomas' simple yet nervous reaction soon gained him a fan base on the internet.

"We take a lot of selfies. My uncle Nick and I make videos together. My family thinks it is really cool for me to have many fans online and my friends in class know that I make videos and take photos," Thomas says in his email.

When Thomas was in Beijing, he was shy but was willing to smile for the cameras of his fans, Wei says.

"I saw Gavin's smiling photo about a year ago when one of my friends sent it to me. My friend was working on the weekends and he used the photo to complain about his boss," says Tian Qian, 27, a primary school teacher in Beijing.

Thomas' smile expressed her friend's emotion at that moment, she adds.

"We live in a fast-paced city and are under a lot of pressure. Gavin's smile makes us feel relaxed," Tian says.

"I have been following him since he launched his Weibo account and it's very enjoyable to watch his videos. We are happy that he is bringing joy to our lives."