Xu Yan, from humble intern to China KOL with 20 million fans in 10 years

Instead, he asked her assistant to tell her she was meeting a business partner in a luxury hotel near the Eiffel Tower.

As Xu walked onto the hotel’s balcony, which was decorated with flowers, she saw her boyfriend dressed in a white suit and holding a bunch of roses.

“A long time ago, I told Hangzai that I had never seen the Eiffel Tower on a starry night. Today, when the Eiffel Tower lights up, I become a fiancée,” Xu wrote on Weibo.

The proposal footage attracted 1.3 million likes on Douyin alone – with nearly 60 million views in total across platforms that included Weibo and Bilibili – demonstrating Xu’s popularity online in China.

But a decade ago, the now 32-year-old was just an intern at a newspaper earning 800 yuan (US$110) a month.

She had graduated from Jinan University in Guangzhou in southern China’s Guangdong province, with a major in Chinese literature.

In the newsroom, Xu was assigned to edit articles before publishing them on the social media app WeChat.

Months later, she landed a full-time job with a local company operating its new media platform, with a monthly salary of 13,000 yuan (US$1,800).

She worked at the company during the day and made extra money in the evening by writing articles for public accounts on WeChat.

Midway through 2015, Xu quit her job to become a full-time blogger. Her content focused on love and relationships.

As her articles trended online, Xu was well rewarded with a monthly income of 50,000 yuan (US$7,000) by the end of that year, she said.

However, Xu said her enthusiasm for the topics she was focusing on soon dried up because she was so young and had limited life experience.

Instead, she chose to write about beauty and fashion, although she had little knowledge in those areas either.

Not surprisingly, many readers criticised her for not being professional, which motivated her to read about fashion and do research. Gradually, her opinions received greater recognition.

“For some years, I worked for many hours a day and took no days off. I got back home at midnight every day. So I did not know what the streets of Shenzhen (in Guangdong) looked like in the daytime,” Xu said.

Eventually, she achieved online fame.

Xu has interviewed many of China’s top stars, such as Yang Mi, Zhao Lusi and Zhu Yilong, and she is a close friend of some celebrities.

She also set up her own company Yanchi Culture to help incubate new bloggers.

Now renting a 300-sq-m house in downtown Shanghai, Xu lives a life of luxury, with all the material trappings of success, such as a pair of slippers that cost 40,000 yuan (US$5,500).

“I think the secret to my success is to carry on and to work hard. Find something you love and spare no efforts in doing it. Do not consider the returns, but focus on spending your efforts,” Xu said.

Her marriage proposal video has sparked a stir on mainland social media.

“I am moved by their romance. I hope they will be happy forever,” one online observer on Weibo said.

“You pay attention to how wealthy she is, but you ignore her diligence and talent,” said another.