"I love my hometown, and I love and hold the sea in veneration. I never get tired of seeing the landscape of my hometown, and I’m glad I grew up on an island and by the sea. I hope this sense of happiness can “infect” more people," said Chen Zhang, a chap born after the 1980s. Chen Zhang runs the Douyin (TikTok’s sister app) account "Dazhang Talks About Pingtan." He started posting videos on Pingtan in 2021.

In his videos, there are no fancy editing techniques, only the simplicity of promoting his hometown. A commentary that always follows the heart, attentive copywriting, coupled with the unique scenery of Pingtan stirred a yearning for the "Shangri-la" -Pingtan, an island off E China’s Fujian Province and the closest place on the mainland to the island of Taiwan.

His Douyin homepage shows approximately 70 videos, spanning 4 minutes each and involving the history, geography, culture, folklore, personages, stories, animals, and plants of Pingtan.

Behind all this is Zhang’s painstaking efforts. “Each video requires referring to relevant books and taking photos on the spot. I have taken over 10,000 photos so far. Specifically, it’s the most time-consuming to produce the village collection and it takes an average of 2 days to make one,” said Chen.

Chen Zhang pictured using his mobile phone to edit short videos

When asked about his motivation, Chen revealed that he was inspired by ardent locals such as A Can, a Pingtan writer and Wei Bao, former chairman of the Pingtan Bizarre Rocks Association. “They have been promoting Pingtan. I hope to improve the "foundation" in a more systematic fashion. I hope my videos can inspire more locals to promote Pingtan better," Chen added.

Over just more than one year, his videos have received over a million hits and gained more than 5,000 followers. "There are often netizens who deliver direct messages to encourage me, and some even provided me with information, hoping to make a video on their village. I really feel their passion for Pingtan, which spurs me on.

“Chen Zhang’s videos invoked nostalgia of Pingtan’s emigrants and brought back their good memories of the yesteryear.

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