On Lunar New Year's Eve, Huang Hsiao-ting, a woman from Taiwan who works in Shanghai, and some friends who had also stayed in the Chinese mainland, shared livestreams of dishes eaten by people on the island during Spring Festival.

It was the first time the 36-year-old had not spent the festivities with her parents in Taiwan. However, she didn't feel lonely because she was busy organizing charity sales for poor areas via livestreams, a skill the charity enthusiast gained last year.

"My parents, on the other side of the Straits, could also view my progress via my livestream," she said.

A new business model of online marketing via livestreams flourished last year as people stayed home during the COVID-19 epidemic. Huang, who moved to Shanghai in 2015 to further her career, was determined not to miss out.

In April, businesses from Taiwan that have a presence in Shanghai organized a joint livestream sale to promote economic recovery in the wake of the epidemic.

Huang represented her employer, Baker's Kingdom, a Taiwan-funded supplier of baking materials in the eastern city.

The experience opened up a new world for her. She later took some e-commerce and livestreaming training courses and participated in charity livestreaming activities organized by the mainland media to sell produce from poor areas.