As internet access grows in China, a new kind of job opportunity has presented itself: the internet celebrity. It's almost entirely pioneered by young people. And it's not just in the big cities. CGTN anchor Erica Pitzi traveled to Guizhou Province to meet a young man taking the internet by storm by showcasing the roots of his tiny mountain village.

He's an internet sensation at only 25 years old. Unlike other online celebrities who livestream mostly from major citie, Cao Huan rose to fame from the farming videos he posted of his far-off rural community. To truly understand why his videos went viral is to see where he comes from.

This means leaving the booming metropolis of Beijing and flying three hours to Guiyang - the largest city in the poorest province of China - Guizhou. Then driving six hours deep into the mountains while watching this stunning scenery unfold before our eyes.

This is the village of Zhanghan where Cao Huan grew up with his mother, father and brother. It's rare for young men to still live here at his age.

As soon as they are old enough to take care of themselves, they head to the bigger cities for work. At 16 years of age, Cao moved to the southern city of Guangdong where he worked as a security guard. He loved watching other internet celebrities on his smartphone and became inspired.

CAO HUAN INTERNET CELEBRITY "At the beginning, I was making videos in the city but I felt I wasn't doing a very good job. I was making funny videos back then."

Then Cao got the idea to focus the videos on his village and his Miao community, an ethnic minority group based in Southwestern China. So he returned home. 

CAO HUAN INTERNET CELEBRITY "I made my first village video in August of 2016. It was about us harvesting rice in the mountains. We worked until very late and I uploaded the video the same day. It was a hit. I never thought so many people would like it."

His first few videos attracted hundreds of viewers, then thousands, then millions. Many grateful to Cao for helping them recollect scenes from the villages they left many years ago.

CAO HUAN INTERNET CELEBRITY "I feel very happy. By doing this, I am making more people relive their childhood."

On this day, in front of his home, Cao is hammering rice into a sticky dough to make rice patties, known as ciba.

I soon realized, this work is not as easy as it looks.

"Oh My God, Oh My God!"

As for the filming and editing - in the beginning, he did it all himself. When he started making money, he asked his brother to move back home to help. Two years later, and Cao has more helpers and an agent. His channel Huanzi TV has 5 million fans. And he is making a good living. He gets paid per click by platforms who sponsor his videos bringing in around $800 US dollars a month. Across China, the live-streaming or v-logging industry is booming. Recently, revenue sky-rocketed from 1.1 billion US dollars in 2015 to 6.6 billion last year. In his village of merely 2,000 people, where they do not have indoor plumbing, let alone full access to the internet, the residents had a tough time understanding Cao's videos.

WANG XIAOQUAN ZHANGHAN VILLAGER "At the beginning we didn't know what he was doing. Then we see how hard he is working on his videos."

While the countryside has not embraced modern technology as much as urban areas, most people now seem to have smartphones. When it comes to changing the concept of careers and livelihoods in today's China, young people like Cao are leading the way.

ERICA PITZI ZHANGHAN VILLAGE, GUIZHOU PROVINCE "Once he ran out of ideas for farming and cultural videos in his own village here, Cao decided to spread the word further afield. So he began the 1,000 Village Project, in which he hopes to visit 10,000 households, and promote the special cuisines, crops and crafts they produce in their villages. And get this: he has already been to nearly 300 of them – one as far away as the Myanmar border – and all were requests from his huge fanbase."

And Cao does not shy away from daring tasks like lighting himself on fire in Yunnan Province.

CAO HUAN INTERNET CELEBRITY "The locals celebrate this holiday in June each year. They throw pine pollen onto each other and light it up with a torch. It only burns for a second. Locals say the more you're on fire, the more blessings you'll get."

Cao says he feels blessed with the now 2 billion viewers who have watched his videos.  In fact, he still feels overwhelmed by his own success

CAO HUAN INTERNET CELEBRITY "I've never thought so many people would watch. Because, I come from the countryside, I am not highly educated or cultured like those big stars, but now I feel like I am dreaming, and being treated like a big movie star or singer, and that's why I have to work harder."

What's more - Cao's family is now back under the same roof, after nearly 10 years apart. His mother enjoys the rare privilege of making ciba beside her son. And Cao's advice to China's next generation?

CAO HUAN INTERNET CELEBRITY "Don't give up. Your education level doesn't matter. If you have your own ideas and don't give up, luck will always find you."

For this fortunate young man, 'Opening Up' meant coming home. Erica Pitzi, CGTN, Guizhou Province.