Beijing Review

Cue the Curves!

Ever the food-oriented society, traditional Chinese compliments of yore include gems like “ni pang le” (literally, “you’ve fattened up”), indicating you’ve been eating a lot, and that life’s been treating you pretty well.

Fast forward to 2022, and the above remark now pretty much implies you’ve been stuffing your face; addressing any (fe)male with these words is likely to inspire a crash diet. Or two.

On March 31, Vice Media released a short YouTube documentary titled , featuring three Chinese women who have grown up in an age where the need to be thin has been amplified across social media. “Skinny enough” challenges are a trend across Chinese platforms that encourage users to create content featuring their bodies conforming to prescribed

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from Beijing Review

Beijing Review4 min read
Piquing The Interest
Pointed karst peaks, surrounded by mist, magic and mystery. These lines did not flow from the calligraphy brush of an ancient Chinese poet but are a haiku written by former Prime Minister of Belgium Herman Van Rompuy, as he found himself a world away
Beijing Review2 min readWorld
China’s Top 10 Archaeological Discoveries in 2023
Ten archaeological discoveries, the earliest of which date back to the Paleolithic age (2.5 million-10,000 years ago), have been included in a list of China’s important archaeological discoveries of 2023. The list was announced by China’s National Cu
Beijing Review6 min readWorld
A New Growth Engine
In a recent interview with U.S. magazine Newsweek, Chinese Ambassador to the United States Xie Feng shed light on the concept of new quality productive forces and the Chinese economy. The following edited excerpts from the interview are taken from th

Related Books & Audiobooks