Triumph of the spirit

Sharing online

In May 2018, she uploaded her first post to Xiaohongshu, sharing her story. Her life then was all about rehabilitation exercises and she just wanted to communicate with others.

It took her four hours to write the article－she used a voice-to-text function on her smartphone and revised the words with her fingers that don't have much strength. She was touched by the comments from other users of the online platform and was encouraged when some other people in wheelchairs also shared their experiences.

A turning point came in September 2020 when Xiaohongshu invited her to share her story in a speech. She was surprised at the invitation, because she had just over 3,000 followers then.

"I didn't update my personal post regularly, which only had a few short videos about my rehabilitation exercises and daily life in a wheelchair," she says.

Some influencers, who share their personal favorites and lifestyles on the platform, also joined the activity to deliver speeches. Inspired after chatting with them, Sun started to map out a plan to regularly share her daily life, including makeup tips and her trips with parents.

She spent time exercising, wearing makeup, for example, holding an eyebrow pencil with her weak fingers.

Now, she writes a script before filming a short video and edits it on her smartphone, updating two or three short videos every week. She carefully prepares her outfits: clothes, makeup and ornaments.

Once when the family visited Luoyang, Henan province, she brought three sets of hanfu (traditional Chinese apparel) and wore makeup for a video shoot.

"My motivation to make short videos comes from my fans, who wait to watch my new work," she says.

Most of her followers are young women. Some send her gifts via express delivery and write her postcards. They consider her as an "agony aunt "and share their own troubles with her, such as suffering from depression or illness.

She replies to some messages and shares books about regulating emotions.

Sun travels with her parents－she covers the expenses with the money she earns from her part-time jobs. Her online photos are taken by her father.

At home, her 58-year-old mother, Wang Xiu, is in charge of adjusting the position of four lights and a smartphone for the best shots of her.

For most older Chinese like Wang, short videos are still a novelty. She has to learn the filming process from scratch.

It also took time for Wang to be fully supportive of her daughter.

After the accident, when Sun was in the hospital for recovery, she wanted to put on a lipstick when her condition became better. But the mother didn't understand her. Wang's thought then was: "The most urgent thing was to recuperate. She was not having any social gatherings. Why did she even bother to apply a lipstick?"

However, as Wang saw her daughter in better spirit after making short videos, she gradually changed her mind.

"Shooting the short videos is not just for her love of beauty. It's also a kind of promotion of positive energy. Many netizens love her work and leave comments to encourage her," Wang says.