Wang Jingyan, known as Fang Xiaoqian online, is singing Japanese anime songs in her live broadcasts. [Photo/China Daily]

Guo Xuxuan, 23, is a nijigen otaku, one of those besotted with everything to do with computer games, anime and manga. He loves the giant robots in the Gundam Series from Japan, spends hours assembling model cars, motorcycles and robots and painting them, and plays an online real-time strategy game called League of Legends every day.

Whenever he does so, he opens Douyutv.com and finds someone to watch while he plays.

Many see Douyutv as nothing more than a gaming video site. But there is much more to it than that. In fact anyone wanting to beat off boredom could do a lot worse than going there.

When Guo runs into difficulties assembling one of his models he goes to an internet channel run by someone who goes under the name Smilehaz or another by someone named Sunkaka2009. The two are master model makers who demonstrate their working methods online, answer questions and sell models.

These two channels have only a niche audience, Smilehaz having about 1,500 viewers when he makes things, although most are highly dedicated and loyal. Like Guo, they follow the master modeler through the process of making each model, which takes at least a week. The live broadcast gives them the chance to observe the fine detail of what he does and communicate in a direct way.