"When we meet in my studio, we all wear masks," Qin says. "It's a unique kind of working experience."

Qin does not aim to put a stop to this trial of mass-produced documentary. He has a WeChat group including many of the participants of One More Day. Many of these filmmaking amateurs asked Qin how to shoot professional-looking footage on Feb 9.

Since that day, some of the people in the chat asked whether they should leave the group. He said no.

"I'll probably make a sequel of One More Day in a few years," Qin says. "Let's meet again on a future Feb 9, and see how their lives have changed."

Qin wrote a letter of thanks on his Sina Weibo account to express his appreciation for people's support with the project.

He parodies of the opening of One Hundred Years of Solitude, a novel by Nobel laureate Gabriel Garcia Marquez, in the letter: "Many years later, as I face the last day of my life, I will remember the distant day when I made One More Day."

Contact the writer at wangkaihao@chinadaily.com.cn