Not long ago, a Chinese content creator went viral thanks to her uncanny resemblance to Chinese actress Liu Yifei.
The 22-year-old girl, Lin Xiaotang, first rose to fame after posting four videos of herself on a Douyin account.
The account handle is known as “Liu Yifei“, the same name as the 38-year-old Mulan goddess, except the “Yi” in the actress’ name is replaced by another Chinese character which sounds the same.
It’s no surprise how much netizens adored the China Fairy Sister lookalike. Xiaotang garnered more than 200K followers in just one day, and many praised Xiaotang for her charm.
But what sounded like a completely positive episode quickly turned south.
Reports now claim that Xiaotang’s account was only renamed after she became popular, suggesting that she is deliberately using the real Liu Yifei for clout.
It didn’t help that Xiaotang’s attempt to defend herself went awry too.
She had gone on a live stream to clarify that the account has been in use for more than a year — since before her taste of fame — and said that she doesn’t know why she suddenly blew up online for looking like Yifei.
Xiaotang then stressed that her recent surge in fans is a result of her prolonged hard work and efforts.
She also claimed that she “didn’t intentionally sensationalise” herself before emphasising that she doesn’t want people to think that she’s impersonating the actress.
Did netizens buy it? Obviously not.
“[She] literally named herself Liu Yifei but still say she doesn’t know why she’s famous”, a netizen said. Another chastised Xiaotang for “copying Liu Yifei’s make-up style every day yet insist she’s not mimicking”.
“She has been live streaming for a year and no one cared about her. Once she impersonates [Yifei] she became famous overnight, yet she’s still feigning ignorance,” one then berated.