A vehicle with 5G equipment collects signal during a live broadcast of cherry blossoms at Wuhan University in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, March 16, 2020. The campus of Wuhan University is not open to the public due to epidemic prevention and control works. The university on Monday organized a ten-day live broadcast to show cherry blossoms in spring in the campus. (Xinhua/Fei Maohua)

The cherry blossoms at Wuhan University in Central China's Hubei Province usually draw tens of thousands of people when they bloom every spring. This year, despite the COVID-19 outbreak keeping the city under lockdown, the blossoms have managed to attract an even larger crowd -  by becoming a web celebrity.

The cherry blossoms, which usually bloom in March, have become so popular in recent years that the university have to take measures to curb the large influx of visitors. In 2019, the school's real-name reservations set an upper limit of 15,000 daily visitors on weekdays and 30,000 on weekends. However, there is no limit now.

On Monday, the university joined hands with multiple media outlets and short video platforms such as Kuaishou and Taobao, one of China's largest e-commerce platforms, inviting people to appreciate the more than 1,000 cherry trees in full bloom through a livestream.

The 10-day livestream is running from 10 am to 4 pm daily on various platforms. The livestream by the university's official account on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo alone drew more than 4.52 million views on its first day.

While awe of the spring scene spread across the virus-hit city, the livestream platforms were flooded with encouraging comments for the residents of Wuhan.

"I have never missed my university this much since graduation. Seeing the familiar campus and the cherry blossoms through the livestream on Taobao, all I want to say is 'Stay strong Wuhan,'" posted a netizen currently working in Beijing who identified themselves as an Wuhan University graduate from the class of 2009.

"Spring has finally arrived. Everything will be better soon," read another comment.

Established in 1893 by Zhang Zhidong, a high-ranking official of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), Wuhan University has witnessed its share of history as one of China's top universities. The first sapling cherry trees were planted by Japanese invaders in 1939 during the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1931-1945). After the normalization of diplomatic relations between China and Japan in 1972, then Japanese prime minister Kakuei Tanaka sent 1,000 North Japanese hill cherry trees to then Chinese premier Zhou Enlai. Fifty of these trees were planted at the university.

As China and Japan are both dealing with the COVID-19 outbreak, the two countries' relations and peoples have been growing closer during their cooperation in combating the epidemic.

With the cherry blossom season underway in Japan, besides sending their best wishes, some Chinese netizens are also proposing that the neighboring country should also consider turning to livestreaming.