Available in over 150 markets, TikTok becomes the most visited website in 2021, overtaking Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon and other big American online companies. The short video platform, particularly popular with the younger Millennials and Generation Z, has more than 1 billion active users around the world.

 

(Photo by Cloudflare)

 

It has become a trend for China's cities to share local information on social platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and TikTok to gain reputations abroad. 

 

Report on Chinese Cities Overseas Promotional Influence in 2021 released on 28 December showed that Chengdu ranked fourth among 337 Chinese cities on TikTok in terms of overseas promotional influence. 

 

Financial City in Chengdu

(Photo by Zhang Xiangsheng)

 

According to the report, Chengdu has garnered fans on TikTok with keywords such as fashion, pandas and cityscape.

 

Chinanow123, kawaii_chengdu, among other accounts, are part of Chengdu's efforts to create its brand facing global users on the popular social media traffic engine. By posting funny stories, Chinanow123 attracted over 1,000 U.S.-based fans in nearly a month and received 292,000 likes in total. kawaii_chengdu shares videos of a Chinese girl in Hanfu (a traditional outfit) and is aimed to show Japanese fans traditional Chinese culture.

 

 

Apart from creating TikTok accounts positioning various themes, interaction also matters. Replying and commenting will help narrow the psychological distance.

 

Targeting audiences in different countries, the city seeks to go beyond the existing libels to tell stories from diffident points of view. Other than big events, details of daily life can better evoke stronger emotional responses. 

 

More possibilities are to be explored. TikTok will be a game-changer for Chengdu to create a credible, lovable and respectable image in the future.