Gong Xiaoming, an obstetrician at a public hospital in Shanghai, usually sees up to 30 outpatients a day, but when he writes an article about uterine fibroids, it can easily draw tens of thousands of clicks within a day on his micro blog.

"I can't believe that an online doctor can be so influential," said Gong, 42.

By day he works at Shanghai First Maternity and Infant Hospital, but 520,000 people follow him round-the-clock on Sina Weibo.