Shanghai vlog: 22-year-old building manager's life amid COVID-19 outbreak

Millions of views, thousands of comments on a college girl's vlog about becoming a building manager and helping residents during Shanghai's citywide quarantine.

La Hong, a building manager in a community of Shanghai told CGTN her daily tasks for the new role include distributing self-test kits, organizing nucleic acid PCR testing for residents, and distributing supplies to each of them. They also coordinate with the neighborhood committee on chat groups whenever residents have any issues.

The freshness faded away quickly, she said, adding that getting things done are not easy. Sometimes things get complicated, when some residents are reluctant to cooperate. And sometimes, things "pile up."

"I cried. At that time, I was just starting out as head of the building. Then all kinds of things went wrong. The neighborhood committee also felt that I wouldn't be able to do things, and all kinds of negative things accumulated and broke down," she recalled.

But La persisted in her work and in recording her life. Her three episodes of “Serving as a Building Manager” have racked up some 15 million views on the Chinese video-streaming platform, Bilibili.

The 22-year-old was one of the site's top unloaders in 2019, where she already has 2.8 million followers.

"I've been shooting videos for five to six years, and they're just based on my daily life. It's part of my routine. I like documenting my life. This time, I had the opportunity to meet all kinds of people. I also learned about how to communicate with people," she said.

"Everyone has different thoughts. I need to learn more about respect, open-mindedness, and the concept of coexistence," she added.

Based on what she's learned so far, she said she's hoping to do more as a building manager.

"I feel that we've reached a bottleneck period. We've all been at home for a certain period of time, so I'm trying to find ways to engage in some entertaining activities. Otherwise it will be really difficult," La noted.

With more trust from her neighbors and more praise from her viewers, La said she's learned that there are more gains from stepping up to help out.