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China’s Selfie Obsession
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China’s Selfie Obsession

Meitu’s apps are changing what it means to be beautiful in the most populous country on Earth.

Jiayang Fan
The New Yorker, 2017
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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Innovative
  • Eye Opening
  • Engaging

Recommendation

It’s said that the camera doesn’t lie, but these days, it does upgrade the truth – especially when it comes to Chinese social media, where at least half of all selfies benefit from beautification through specialized photo-editing apps like Meitu. And the beautification culture spills over into real life when young Chinese, mostly women, ask plastic surgeons to make their faces match their selfies. New Yorker staff writer Jiayang Fan interviewed Chinese Internet developers – as well as cosmetic surgeons and their perfection-chasing patients – about this developing trend. getAbstract recommends Fan’s intriguing look beneath the photogenic surface.

Take-Aways

  • In China, young people have become obsessed by taking selfies – and looking good in them.
  • They take cues from wang hong lian (Internet-celebrity face) – some of whom enjoy movie-star levels of fame.
  • Young Chinese use beauty-enhancing apps like Meitu to doctor their faces in selfies, and some graduate to having plastic surgery.

About the Author

Jiayang Fan is a staff writer for The New Yorker. 

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