Short videos with unconventional content help young Chinese relieve pressure

Many young Chinese enjoy watching short videos with unconventional content, such as soap carving, as they find that they help relieve the pressures of daily life.

Photo shows a screenshot of a soap carving video by a vlogger called Xiaopangshou, which means chubby hands. (Photo provided by the interviewee)

Lin Fan, 27, watches soap carving short videos every night. "Once I started watching the clips, I just couldn't stop and always lost track of time. I don't think I really like these videos actually, I just find them very relaxing. I don't have to worry about other things in my life when I watch them," she said.

Lin, who works in an Internet company in Beijing, faces a great deal of pressure from her work and daily life. Apart from the soap carving videos, she also enjoys watching videos about hoof trimming. "Hoof trimming videos comfort me. It feels like they heal the wounds inside me," she said.

Lin is just one vivid example of the many young Chinese people who love these relaxing videos, which can be about anything from damaging an object or hoof trimming to cleaning a carpet and making things by hand. On one short-video platform, soap scraping videos have garnered millions of views, while one series of hoof trimming videos has a staggering 740 million views.

On one short-video platform, searches for relaxing clips reach their peak from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. Users born in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s make up 75 percent of all the searches.

These videos, with their comforting yet unconventional content, not only help viewers relieve pressure, but have also garnered attention for vloggers. One called Xiaopangshou, which means "chubby hands", is a teacher at a primary school and a mother of two. As someone who loves soap carving videos, she started to make her own videos in 2018. "Back then, there were few soap carving vloggers in China, so I gained followers shortly after I uploaded some videos. They told me they were comforted by these videos and always urged me to upload more."

She sees making soap carving videos as a way to communicate with her followers, and doesn't care about the money she makes from it. But competition among soap carving vloggers has become fierce these days. "Quite a few vloggers prepare soaps with different colors, shapes and textures, and cut them into various shapes, to make a great visual impact. This can also attract more viewers and therefore bring them more income," she explained.

Photo shows a screenshot of a tape ball cutting video. (Photo provided by the interviewee)

Xiaoxiong, which means “little bear”, is a vlogger who makes videos about cutting a specially made tape ball slowly with a knife. When a ball is cut open, layers of colorful tape burst out. With nearly 60,000 followers on her short-video platform, she earned nearly 10,000 yuan (about $1,396) from one of her videos, which has over 7 million views.

"I didn't expect that I could earn more from making videos than my job," she said. "The more views and comments a video receives, the more money the vlogger earns," she added.

Making a video attractive requires a great deal of effort. "I put a lot of effort into the making of the ball, such as the color and thickness of each layer," she explained. "Every time a good idea struck me, I would quickly write it down in my notebook." She usually spends one to two hours making the balls every night.

"Viewers are always absorbed and immersed in the videos when they watch them, and together with the vlogger, experience a sense of control and accomplishment, which is relaxing, upbeat, and helps relieve pressure, said Lin Chun, deputy director of the psychological consultant working committee of Chinese Psychological Society.

Lin added that the videos usually fall into two categories. Soap carving and tape ball cutting, which in essence involve damaging an object, help relieve anxiety and anger, while restoring an object, which usually results in perfection and order, are satisfying and joyful.