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Want to know if you’re pretty? See if street photographers in China zoom in on you

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awphoto - Videographers and photographers station themselves at trendy shopping areas in China’s busiest cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu, as part of the country's “jie pai” or street-snapping trend to capture the country’s fashionistas and influencers - an endeavour that may appear to be organic but can also be highly orchestrated. When The Straits Times visited Yuanyang Taikooli over two evenings in June, shutterbugs in Sichuan’s provincial capital and south-western China’s most developed city went into a frenzy after they spotted at least two influencers - with 2.6 million followers each - in the shopping district.

Copyright: Aw Cheng Wei

An influencer who goes by the handle Qianqian being surrounded by people taking photos of her in Yuanyang Taikoo Li in Chengdu.

ST PHOTO: AW CHENG WEI

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Videographer Liu Riyong spends two to three evenings a week at Yuanyang Taikoo Li, Chengdu’s hip and upscale shopping area, filming young, fashionable women.

The clips are uploaded to his two Douyin – the Chinese TikTok – accounts, and the collection has amassed close to 540 million likes since he started the accounts last year.

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