


On Douyin, Wu has over 2 million fans and Pan has more than 6 million. Last September, Huangmei Opera artist Wu Qiong was invited to teach singing skills online by another Douyin celebrity Pan Youtong who had been heavily criticized for the frivolous style in which she sang some lines of "Emperor's Female Son-in-law," a masterpiece of Huangmei Opera. He added that some up-to-date changes to traditional opera can boost its popularity among youngsters. He said short videos are like "elementary courses" which make it easier for young people to get interested in traditional opera.

Wang Hao, a 33-year-old fan of traditional opera, usually watches short videos on video-sharing platforms such as Douyin and Bilibili. Around 52 percent of the viewers were under 35. Videos of Chinese traditional opera on Douyin had been watched 60 billion times as of November 2021, doubling the figure in the year before, according to the platform's report published last December.
