The battle began with the Department of Culture and Tourism in Henan province posting 23 videos on Douyin on Jan 9. Over a four-day period, the department posted 112 videos to promote the province's tourist attractions.

The footage attracted nearly 1 million new followers, with the hashtag "How many videos have the Henan culture and tourism authorities posted on Douyin?" trending on the platform. Netizens joked that the authorities in Henan were attempting to attract visitors with the sheer number of videos they posted.

Meanwhile, footage of bare-chested male models at the Yuntai Mountain scenic spot in Henan has been posted on a local tourism account run by people born after 2000. The videos have become popular with netizens who joke about visiting the province to see "the hot guys".

With the authorities in Henan showing their muscle, other areas do not want to be left behind.

In Shanxi province, the culture and tourism authorities posted 57 videos on Douyin between 8 pm on Jan 11 and 6:35 am the following day. At the peak, they posted two videos in one minute and 12 in an hour.

In Hebei province, the authorities have termed themselves "King of the competition", and vowed to fight to the end to attract visitors.

On Jan 12, they changed their name on Douyin from "Hebei tourism" to "Hebei culture and tourism", as "culture and tourism" has become a popular catchphrase on the platform. They also declared a "war" with other provinces to attract visitors, and vowed to win.

Next day, they posted 75 videos, all with the hashtag "Hebei is king of the competition".

The authorities were even told by Douyin to "take a rest", as they had posted too many videos, to which they responded that 75 a day is the platform's limit, not Hebei's.