Growing influence

In September, he produced a short video about an old bookstore in Suzhou that was watched more than 40 million times. Jiang Chengbo, the owner of the 30-square-meter bookstore, is now 98 years old. Zhao was deeply moved.

"Jiang goes to the bookstore every day to work and bargains with customers using his calculator. And over about 130 years, and four generations, they have never wanted to expand the family bookshop, which is amazing. Every time when I think of him, he reminds me that sometimes there's no need for one to walk too far or push something to its limit. What's more important is to find a way to live comfortably," he says.

Focusing on the books that interest him, Zhao posts a new video every three days and livestreams for four hours, six days a week. His passion and presentation gives his audience a chance to discover less popular books that have been covered with dust in warehouses for a long time.

In November, he promoted Zizhi Tongjian (Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government) compiled by Sima Guang, a historian during the Song Dynasty, and sold a total of 3,000 sets of the multivolume book at a price of more than 1,000 yuan ($140) per set.