Zhang studied plant protection while earning his bachelor's degree at Nanjing Agricultural University from 2006 to 2010, and then focused on agricultural pest control for his master's from China Agricultural University, which he completed in 2013.

As a Nature History intern in 2011, he helped run the magazine's weibo micro-blogging account, which had about 20,000 followers at the time.

After he became an editor with Nature History, he made it a point to interact with followers online and answer their questions with informative yet accessible answers. Specifically, he used plain language rather than jargon and often finished with a joke.

"These were lessons I drew from the internet," Zhang says.

For example, he noticed people ignored posts about species identification that only gave the name and no other information.

"This kind of mere identification isn't entertaining," Zhang says.

The public needs not just facts but also fun.

He also avoids long-winded tangents, which he likens to a "wall to knowledge".

The magazine's weibo account had over 12 million followers by the time he left the post.

As short videos became more prevalent, Zhang shifted his focus to this medium in 2019.