According to Tangtang, members of her fan club are from different parts of China, some of them living in Wuhan. To ensure the donations are transparent, she verified the accounting details with other members of the club. Each purchase list was displayed via WeChat.

"When the medical supplies arrive in Wuhan, members of the club monitor the distribution. It's teamwork," she said.

In October 2018, Tangtang launched a charity foundation for the Deng Lun Fan Club, which donated books and sports facilities for schools in remote areas of the country, including Yunnan province. All the donations were in the name of Deng, the 28-year-old actor, who has more than 35 million followers on Sina Weibo.

Kaka, a fan of actor Wu Lei, who launched donation efforts on Jan 23, said: "The most difficult part was finding medical supplies, such as facemasks and protective suits. We also needed to ensure that all the supplies we bought were genuine, which took a lot of time."

In December, when Wu, who has more than 40 million followers on his Sina Weibo account, celebrated his 20th birthday, nearly 800 fans donated 55 libraries and science laboratories to schools.