In 2012, he came to Tongji University in Shanghai on a summer exchange program and met Zhu Liping at a party. Her beauty and confidence immediately attracted the shy, bookish German. On the other hand, Zhu found the shy young man very cute, claiming to have fallen in love with him at first sight.

However, Derksen, a poor student from a total different culture thousands of miles away, had to meet the challenges of culture shock, as well as from Zhu's tiger father, who, like many dads, wanted his daughter to live a life of comfort and happiness.

Now, though, Derksen is close with his father-in-law. The Zhus and Derksens are popular in China through their online videos. Derksen is followed by more than 2 million people on Sina Weibo.

"I love every video. We created them with passion. I want to record every experience about local life and people in China and show them to my family and friends in Germany, but they are also memories I keep for myself," he says.

"I've gained too much from the creation of these videos, such as the interviews in Beijing at 3 am or the one about the taxi driver in Shanghai who comes from Jiangxi province. I can see different facets of society in them and understand China more profoundly," he says.

"They also let me see that I should not complain about the small difficulties in my life."

Derksen and his team also add English subtitles to the videos.

"My family and friends watch them all the time and, when they are interested, they will come to me, and I will explain and encourage them to come to China and see it for themselves," he says.

"I hope people from China and Germany can understand and find greater tolerance for each other and that our relationship will become increasingly close. To that end, I want to contribute my part," he says.