The traffic is a "sweet burden" for Wang's team, especially its search function, for which the technical team worked through the Spring Festival holiday to ensure the app ran without crashing.

"We didn't expect the growth to continue until the end of February but we realized that people would be cooking more as they are at home since the epidemic started. On the second day after Lunar New Year (Jan 25), we made all our paid cooking courses free," Wang adds.

Zhao Gang, a popular user on Douguo, has uploaded more than 800 recipes. Her posts have received more views and comments this year.

She says it's easier for green hands in the kitchen to learn some dishes that combine staple foods with other ingredients. Among new recipes she has uploaded are noodles with gravy and fried dumplings with chives and eggs.

Zhao also hosts a livestreaming show to teach viewers how to make noodles with gravy by hand.

"I started to cook after recovering from a health issue years ago that made me realize the importance of eating healthily," Zhao says."I want to share my experience and knowledge with others."