Mexican TikToker Mauro Arturo Salazar Zavala livestreams on a street in Taiyuan, Shanxi province, earlier this month, showcasing local culture to global followers. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY

Editor's note: China Daily presents the series Friends Afar to tell the stories of people-to-people exchanges between China and other countries. Through the vivid narration of the people in the stories, readers can get a better understanding of a country that is boosting openness.

As dusk settles over Taiyuan, capital of North China's Shanxi province, electric buses glide past schoolchildren waving at a smartphone camera. Behind the lens is Mauro Arturo Salazar Zavala from Mexico, livestreaming in Spanish to more than 10,000 viewers across Latin America on TikTok.

"Welcome! I'm Mauro, 100 percent Mexican and a barbecue lover," he says. "Look at these buses — all electric! I want to show you places of China that nobody else shows."

Mauro is among the most popular Latin American TikTok creators livestreaming from China. Before arriving in his early 30s, he had worked as a chef, keyboard player and web shop entrepreneur — a life lacking certainty.

Now, more than 12,000 kilometers from his hometown Monterrey, he keeps to a steady rhythm, livestreaming twice a day, from 10 am to noon and from 8 pm to 10 pm.

His TikTok account, "mauro en china", has drawn millions of views, primarily from Spanish-speaking audiences across Latin America aged 18 to 35. Many viewers message him with questions ranging from the history of a building to how to apply to study in China.

His wife, Yang Miao, a former e-commerce professional, said Spanish-language livestreaming remains a largely untapped "blue ocean", with an engaged audience but little original content.

"In Latin America, people are very enthusiastic, and their demand for quality content is strong," Yang said. "But a format like China's street livestreaming is still quite rare there."

Mauro and Yang's love story began with a chance online greeting in 2019. They connected through music — she sang rock, and he played keyboards.

When flights resumed in October 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, Yang flew to Monterrey to experience Mauro's hometown, neighborhood and childhood food.

Over the next three years, the couple documented life in more than 30 Mexican cities, capturing street tacos, local markets and daily life. They later traveled across six other Latin American countries, building a following of nearly 1 million in China.

"During those three years, we traveled to almost every corner in Mexico together," Yang said.

"Along the way, we also came to understand the cultures of different Latin American countries."

In Mexico, they streamed only in the early morning because it was the safest time to go out. Mauro kept that habit after moving to Yang's hometown of Taiyuan in 2023.

"When I first arrived in Taiyuan, I was hesitant to go out in the evening," Mauro said. But Yang gradually encouraged him to livestream outdoors, and he grew fascinated by the city's nighttime crowds and lights.

"Many Latin Americans only know China through the internet — they've never seen the real thing," Mauro says.

"I want to be a bridge and show them how stable, beautiful and extraordinary life here is."

Although the couple says differences matter more than similarities in a relationship, their lives have gradually intertwined, each absorbing the other's world.

Mauro applied for a residence permit last month. Once a chef, he now updates his vlog daily, while Yang, who worked in e-commerce in China, runs a taco restaurant part-time, bringing Mexican flavors to Shanxi.

Li Jialu contributed to this story.

Contact the writers at houchenchen@chinadaily.com.cn