What Is Bilibili? A First-Time Viewer's Guide
Bilibili — often called “B site” (B站) by its users — is one of China’s largest video platforms. Founded in 2009 as an anime fan community, it has grown into a full video ecosystem with hundreds of millions of monthly users, spanning gaming, food, technology, travel, education, music and documentary content.
If you have heard it described as “China’s YouTube,” that’s a useful first approximation but an incomplete one. Bilibili has its own culture, its own creator economy, and a viewing experience that feels noticeably different from Western platforms. Here is what a first-time viewer should know.
The community came first
Unlike most video platforms, Bilibili grew out of a fan community (originally focused on anime, comics and games — the “ACG” world) rather than out of a general video service. That origin still shapes everything about it:
- Creators are called UP主 (“UP zhu”), literally “upload masters.” They are usually individual creators or small studios, closer to a beloved indie musician than to a media company.
- The audience skews young, curious and highly engaged. Comment sections are often long, detailed and surprisingly civil.
- Community in-jokes matter. Remix culture, memes and recurring gags are part of the fun — and part of the learning curve for outsiders.
Danmaku: the flying comments
The most distinctive feature of Bilibili is danmaku (弹幕): viewer comments that fly across the video itself in real time, synchronized to specific moments. Instead of a separate comment section below the player, the commentary is layered on top of the video.
It sounds chaotic, but danmaku creates a “watching together” feeling — when something funny or dramatic happens, a wave of reactions sweeps across the screen at exactly that moment. You can turn danmaku off at any time, and many long videos have community-made “high-energy warnings” that tell you when something important is coming. Our danmaku guide covers the details.
What kind of content is on it?
Practically everything, organized into topic zones (分区):
- Gaming — playthroughs, esports commentary and game culture, one of the platform’s oldest strengths
- Food — street-food recreations, regional Chinese cooking, extreme taste tests
- Knowledge — physics teachers, law professors and history storytellers with millions of followers
- Tech — chip-level smartphone reviews, camera gear, DIY engineering
- Travel & documentaries — cinematic journeys through China’s cities, towns and landscapes
- Anime & virtual creators — the original heart of the platform
- Music & remix — original songs, covers, and guichu (鬼畜), a fast-cut remix art form Bilibili helped pioneer
Who is it for?
If any of these describe you, Bilibili is worth exploring:
- You want to see China through the eyes of people who actually live there, not through re-uploaded clips
- You’re studying Chinese and want natural, engaging listening material
- You follow anime, gaming or tech and want the community perspective behind it
- You simply love finding video cultures different from your usual feed
How to start without getting lost
The language barrier is real but manageable. Start with visually driven channels where the story is carried by imagery — our Start in English shelf collects those. Learn the handful of words that unlock the culture — what danmaku means, why viewers type 666 — and pick a channel from our creator directory that matches your interests.
Every profile on BiliGuide links directly to the creator’s official Bilibili space, so what you watch always supports the person who made it.