Online platforms

According to Douyin, by December, it was hosting more than 60,000 fitness video bloggers. Meanwhile, last year, the number of fitness videos on the platform rose by 134 percent from 2020, while the number of trainers rose by 39 percent, attracting 208 percent more followers and boosting profits.

The platform started a "nationwide fitness campaign" in December, encouraging users to upload related videos and join online exercise sessions as the fitness craze swept the country.

Athletes, including Olympic gold medalist Gu Ailing, celebrities and numerous fitness experts joined the program by posting short videos or hosting livestreams to help netizens exercise at home.

Korean fitness blogger Jung Da-yeon and German fitness model Pamela Reif also upload short videos and do livestreams on Douyin, attracting more than 5.3 and 5.1 million followers, respectively.

Despite those efforts, Liu is without doubt the most popular online fitness guru. It's hard to imagine millions of people performing aerobics simultaneously, but that happens five times a week in Liu's livestreams. The peak came when 4.1 million people participated at the same time.