World embraces emerging Chinese icons

Besides the traditional kung fu, Peking Opera and books by ancient sages, several freshly minted Chinese pop-culture icons and trend-setting phenomena are also gaining traction worldwide.

They are changing the way China is perceived globally, as well as the way today's young people see and present themselves to the world.

According to a recent survey with a sampling of over 6,000 people: TikTok, a social media video app; Chinese sci-fi works; and wuxia, or novels and films about chivalrous swordsmen; among others, have been trending globally.

TikTok sweeps social media

Noor Afshan, 22, thought she would never have the chance to achieve fame or fortune after failing to qualify as a contestant in local reality shows several years ago.

Just for fun, the young Indian woman began posting videos of herself performing traditional Indian dances on TikTok - known as Douyin in China - a China-developed app launched in 2017 that allows users to create and share talent videos that are no longer than 15 seconds.

She posts every day and is now followed by 3.3 million people. She even makes around 50,000 Indian rupees ($723) a month by advertising for brands on the platform. The average per capita income in India is $2,100 per year.

TikTok, Afshan said, has offered ordinary people a place to show their creativity and connect with others regardless of their caste and religion.

"It gives people a sense of identity and unity," she said.

TikTok was developed by Byte-Dance, a Chinese internet tech company, for markets outside of China. After WhatsApp, Messenger and Facebook, it was the fourth most downloaded nongame app in 2018 worldwide. The number of downloads for TikTok hit 1 billion globally in February, according to app analytics site Sensor Tower.

People under age 30 account for the majority of TikTok's users. Extremely simple and user-friendly services have contributed to the app's explosive growth.

"It is a new way to express ourselves, to make people know more about us," said Panupong Ketlekwat, a 21-year-old college student in Thailand who earned over 20,000 followers on TikTok by lip-syncing popular video clips. He said the app helps him demonstrate his personality and lifestyle because everyone can access the short videos he uploads.