“People in China and Thailand wait in line differently. In China, people stand behind one another. In Thailand, we leave our shoes to mark our spot in the line and play with our phone standing aside.” Han Bing, from Thailand, was born after 1985. He’s obsessed with shooting short videos and uploading them to TikTok. He hopes he can help youths from China and Thailand know the culture and customs of the two countries better through interesting and relaxing way.

Han Bing is studying for a doctorate in international politics at Nanjing University in China. He once participated in the program "A bright World" on Jiangsu TV and became popular for his eloquence. A year ago, he opened his own TikTok account and started recording videos and putting them on the app. Since then he has already gained 400,000 followers.

Since he returned to Thailand during the Spring Festival, he has been unable to come back to school due to the outbreak of COVID-19. He found that TikTok was also popular in Thailand, especially during the pandemic as it gave people in quarantine chance to find funny activities to relieve the pressure and relax. Many of youths in Thailand use this app to show their creative ideas and record their life.

“They prefer to use TikTok because it’s user-friendly,” Han Bing said. He said compared to other video apps and websites, TikTok has strong functions - it does not need professional editing skills, and it allows its users to add sound and image effect. People can make video whenever and wherever they want, everyone can join it easily.

“As far as I know, many of young Thais make TikTok a platform for starting up their business. At some point, TikTok has built a golden bridge between China and Thailand.”

In recent years, Chinese internet culture has been welcomed by Thailand public. Besides TikTok, novels and TV plays from China are also very welcomed. Last year, “The Untamed” was a hit in Thailand.

“Studying abroad in China, role-playing in Chinese costume, watching Chinese TV dramas and chasing Chinese stars have also become popular trends among young Thais,” Han said, adding that behind this was the development of Chinese culture industry and the promotion of China’s soft power, and young Thais’ aspiration for knowing more about China.

Han said many online friends are curious about the similarities and differences of culture and custom of China and Thailand, and they always ask about studying in China and learning Chinese. “As a Thai student in China, I will continue to give full play to my advantages and turn the stories into short videos. I hope more and more people will use the internet to bring more energy to the exchanges between China and Thailand.”