2 | Friday, February 14, 2020 HONG KONG EDITION | CHINA DAILY PAGE TWO Virus: Online lifestyles adopted
From page 1 information about the virus, which could increase their anxiety levels. “Staying at home and keeping healthy are the best ways to fight the Fitness apps virus,” he said. The closure of gyms across the As of Wednesday, the hashtag country has seen exercise addicts “Innovative ways to combat bore turn to fitness apps, with classes dom at home” had been viewed more being livestreamed. than 300 million times on Weibo. Mobile fitness community Keep As people have had limited con used Douyin to broadcast its classes tact with friends and neighbors, the online, hosting three livestreaming use of cyberspace has surged. sessions a day. Although the classes As former Morgan Stanley are free to view, the Keep instructor employee Duncan Clark writes in his asks participants make comments book Alibaba: The House That Jack and “like” the broadcasts. Ma Built, “SARS validated digital Sun Feifei, an information technol mobile telephony and the internet, ogy engineer in Beijing, said she fol and so came to represent the turning lowed the classes every day during point when the internet emerged as the Spring Festival holiday. “Exercise a truly mass medium in China.” is part of my life, no matter what hap In 2003, when the outbreak of pens. Thanks to the internet, I can severe acute respiratory syndrome watch Keep classes at home during in China had been brought under selfquarantine,” she said. control, ecommerce platforms Tao On Jan 27, digital fitness and well bao and JD were launched along ness brand Lefit launched a public with Tencent’s QQ Game. They all exercise campaign. In cooperation grew to become internet giants. with short video platforms, includ Industry experts estimate that the ing Kuaishou and Douyin, the fit ongoing outbreak will result in ness startup, based in Hangzhou, another internet boom. Zhejiang province, has uploaded On Feb 3, at a news conference on more than 16,000 video clips to the economic impact of the out instruct people on exercising at break, Lian Weiliang, viceminister home. The clips have been viewed of the National Development and more than 270 million times. Reform Commission, said, “Online On Jan 30, the General Adminis entertainment and shopping tration of Sport of China issued a remain very active.” notice, calling on sports depart Wang Jianhui, a media and inter ments at all levels to promote “sim net analyst at Cinda Securities, said, ple and scientific” exercises at home, “During the outbreak, the online introduce “fitness knowledge” and entertainment sector — dominated advocate healthy lifestyles via televi by games and streaming services — sion and the internet during the epi has seen a welcome boom.” demic. In addition to the lockdown in Some leading athletes, including Wuhan, Hubei province, the epicen former diving champion Gao Min, ter of the outbreak, the central gov swimmer Sun Yang and ultramara ernment has imposed preventive thon runner Chen Penbin have post measures in metropolitan areas ed videos on social media showing such as Beijing and Shanghai as well their workout routines and offering as other populous areas. Public cele advice for those exercising at home. brations nationwide have been can In her video, Gao said people can celed. “gain strength from sports to over With the government suggesting come the pandemic”. that people stay at home to avoid Top: A family in Chongqing exercises at home. WANG QUANCHAO / XINHUA Above left and right: The Mickey Mouse figure made by Leng Yang from To combat boredom at home, peo further spreading the virus, Weifang, Shandong province. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY Center: Yoga is practiced at home by a resident in Xining, Qinghai province. ple nationwide are becoming lifestyles have moved increasingly MA MINGYAN / FOR CHINA DAILY increasingly creative, with videos from offline to online. posted on social media ranging In June, the number of netizens in break,” said Li Ding, a college teach Directed by and starring Xu Although people confined to from footage of fishing in an indoor China reached 854 million, account er in Shenyang, Liaoning province, Zheng, the comedy was due to be home have embraced online tank to playing ping pong on a din ing for 61.2 percent of the popula adding that she spent more than released in theaters on Jan 25. It streaming, theater owners and stu ing table. tion, according to a report from the Exercise is part of my five hours on the internet each day. portrays the journey through Russia dios have voiced concern that the Cao Qian, a librarian in Yantai, China Internet Network Informa life, no matter what In an attempt to stop large num of a manipulative mother and her trend could have a significant Shandong, used water bottles as tion Center. bers of people gathering, officials middleaged son who wants to rebel impact on China’s film sector. They quoits to play with her 7yearold happens. Thanks to have banned outdoor games of and escape her smothering influ said this could be comparable to the daughter. Online games the internet, I can mahjong, chess and cards and have ence. “disruption” brought to Hollywood “The game had all the family laugh Online games and streaming apps used drones for virus patrols. As a According to a stock exchange fil by Netflix, which has resulted in ing, which I will long remember after have seen millions of views and watch Keep classes at result, demand for online games has ing, ByteDance has agreed to pay new productions skipping theatri all we have gone through,” Cao said. downloads as demand for home home during self surged. Huanxi Media 630 million yuan to cal release and going straight to A video on Weibo showed entertainment has soared. According to online data service stream the movie and to later jointly streaming. patients with mild symptoms of the According to Tencent Games, Hon quarantine.” provider Qimai Technology, since launch a film channel. virus dancing at a temporary hospi or of Kings earned about 2 billion Sun Feifei, an information Jan 27, Tencent’s Happy Mahjong Data from App Annie show that Lessons livestreamed tal in Wuhan on Feb 10. yuan ($288 million) — a record high technology engineer in Beijing has remained in top place in the weekly downloads on ByteDance’s Many universities and other aca Yan Hao, a doctor at the hospital, — on Jan 24, Lunar New Year’s Eve. download rankings for chess and Xigua video app rose by 77 percent demic institutions have been who is encouraging patients to take Industry experts estimate that the card games, followed by Fight the from Jan 20 to Jan 26. livestreaming lessons, while video part in dancing to relieve their anxi game made more than 9 billion yuan Landlord, a card game also devel According to digital marketing apps, such as Bilibili, Kuaishou and ety, said: “Confidence is our ‘sun last month due to the increasing oped by Tencent. agency Techweb, in the three days Douyin, plan to offer a range of shine’. It is important to help the number of participants and longer 300 An ad from the company reads: after it debuted, Lost in Russia classes to the public. patients to build their confidence playing times during the outbreak. million “Less outings, more company. Join notched up some 600 million views From Feb 3 to 7, Tsinghua Univer and defeat the disease.” The strategy game Plague Inc., number of times the hashtag us and play mahjong and cards with and was watched by more than 180 sity livestreamed five open classes On Tuesday evening, many thou from the United Kingdom, went “Innovative ways to combat friends at home.” million households. on Douyin, covering international sands of people nationwide discov boredom at home” had been viral after the outbreak. Since Jan To attract users, special free Many viewers commented: relations, public speaking, tradi ered a novel form of entertainment viewed on Sina Weibo as of 21, it has been one of China’s most Wednesday online rooms opened for Happy “Thank you very much, I owe you a tional culture, interpersonal rela when the Broom Challenge went downloaded apps, according to Mahjong and Fight the Landlord movie ticket.” tions and dance appreciation. viral on Chinese social media plat mobile data and analytics platform from Feb 1 to Feb 9. ByteDance has been streaming An open lecture given on Feb 5 by forms. Netizens posted pictures and App Annie. Zhao Kun, a Shanghai insurance longer content, with the addition of Yan Xuetong, director of The Insti video footage of brooms standing Developed in 2012 by Ndemic agent, said: “My screen time recently 13 movies from Huanxi Media tute of International Studies at upright, unaided. Creation, the game demonstrates has exceeded 12 hours a day. There’s across its platforms. Tsinghua University, attracted The participants were responding how a pathogen evolves and infects $288 nothing I can do, but play games, Enter the Fat Dragon was the sec about 160,000 viewers. Since the to a rumor that NASA had said that people. million bingewatch and surf the internet.” ond film after Lost in Russia to be novel coronavirus outbreak, Yan has Feb 11 was the only day the standing In 2013, James Vaughan, the amount earned by Honor of released on streaming platforms dur analyzed reaction from the interna broom trick would work, because game’s developer, said it can serve Kings — a record high — on Jan Video platforms ing Spring Festival, debuting on Feb 1. tional community. the Earth was at a perfect tilt. They 24, Lunar New Year’s Eve, “as a tool to teach the public about In addition to online games, According to its production com On Feb 5, Peking University spent many hours making brooms according to Tencent Games outbreaks and disease transmis demand has risen for video apps as pany, Bona Film Group, the Hong launched open classes on Douyin stand up unaided. sion.” sources of entertainment and infor Kong action movie premiered on and Bilbili. Gu Yanfeng, 41, a mother of two in Last month, the game generated mation. streaming sites iQiyi and Tencent Coronavirusrelated searches and Beijing who posted pictures on 78,000 downloads, up from 16,000 Amid a surge in players, Ndemic With movie theaters nationwide Video. Starring Donnie Yen, it was hashtags have topped trending lists WeChat Moments of a broom stand in December, according to market Creations has reminded them that closed due to the outbreak, on Jan scheduled to hit theaters on Feb 16. on Douyin and Kuaishou. Both apps ing up, said, “I didn’t believe it at first, analyst Sensor Tower. Plague Inc. is not a “scientific mod 24, Lost in Russia became the first It is available on iQiyi and Tencent have launched channels devoted to but it really did happen.” One player commented, “I learned el” and that people wanting infor Chinese film intended for theatrical Video’s subscriberonly VIP Early virusrelated news, live updates and NASA later took to social media, a lot from playing the game, includ mation on the outbreak should release to premiere online. It debut Access onDemand service. expert analysis. stating, “There’s no ‘special gravity’ ing how the virus spreads and the obtain it from health authorities. ed for free on Huanxi Media’s The movie has been viewed more Xie Bin, an expert at the Shanghai that only affects brooms, but the measures that can be taken to better “Many students played the game streaming service and on platforms than 40 million times on Tencent Mental Health Center, suggested that moon’s gravity creates tides on prevent and contain the epidemic.” over the extended Spring Festival owned by ByteDance. Video. people should avoid searching for Earth.”
Left: A Shanghai resident photographs her broom standing up unaided. WANG GANG / FOR CHINA DAILY Center: A Beijing resident plays Tencent Games’ Honor of Kings at home. DU LIANYI / CHINA DAILY Right: A sports instructor gives an online course at home in Changchun, Jilin province. ZHANG YANSHI / FOR CHINA DAILY