As the UK enters its fourth week of lockdown, many people are turning to social media as a means of escape and connection with the world outside. Memes, coronavirus-inspired songs and dancing doctors on NHS wards, new trends are popping up all the time - many of them having first emerged in China.
From live-streamed fitness classes to 'cloud-raves', China is ahead of the curve when it comes to how to keep yourself occupied at home.
On top of binge-watching TV dramas and gaming, China's social media has also focused a lot of attention on women's bodies during the most intense periods of lockdown. Conversations ranged from fitness to losing weight, cutting hair at home and even balancing lipsticks on your collarbones.
With salons shut, the hashtag #Hairstyleaftercoronavirus became popular on Weibo, a Chinese platform similar to Twitter. Reports from the consumer site Pinduoduo showed that DIY haircutting tools were the top-selling item online, while e-commerce giant JD.com reported a tripling in such products compared to last year.
Some women chose not to wash their hair at all, and even the superstar actress Fan Bingbing posted a video in which she admitted to not having shampooed for a week.
For others - as is happening in the UK - lockdown was all about learning to DIY. Video tutorials from ordinary women on how to cut fringes were shared widely and hairdressers also began to live-stream haircuts. One such demonstration showed a "Lisa-style" fringe cut, inspired by the singer Lalisa Manoban of the Southern Korean band Blackpink was watched by 130,000 people. It showed the hairdresser in a surgical mask and sterilising his tools after each cut.
In March, one of the hottest trends on Weibo centered around women's legs. The hashtag challenge "Best-looking legs according to women," which has had more than 800 million views, saw users posting pictures of their own limbs, as well as those of celebrities. Alongside these, a questionnaire asked: "How heavy do you consider 'slightly heavy' to be?" with the options 110lbs (7.9 stone), 120lbs (8.6 stone), 130lbs (9.3 stone) and 140lbs (10st). The majority of votes were for 110lb, which is about three stone lighter than the average British woman.
The intense focus on weight might seem unhealthy, but it hasn't shocked anyone in a country where women openly discuss their bodies and it's seen as fashionable to voice a desire to lose weight. They talk in exact pounds and ounces, using hashtags such as #howtoloseweightduringtheoutbreak.
Celebrities have fuelled the conversation by discussing their weight online. During a live stream Q&A, Yukee Chen, a popular 27-year-old TV actress, was asked by a viewer if she had put on weight from staying-in. She replied: "I've fattened to 80lbs now; it's too scary. Oh My God!".
Another famous actress, 35-year-old Tong Liya, showed fans how to make "pumpkin-curd" from her kitchen. In the video, watched by 10.5 million people, Tong says jokingly: "I've been eating lots of sweet foods and I got quite a lot fatter, exceeding my previous [weight]... it's almost 90lb now, and the director said 'don't eat anymore!'"
The actress also described how she has been running indoors "for at least half an hour" every day, which she increased to 40 minutes in order to "look slimmer" for her fans on the live stream.
The indoor fitness craze that is currently gripping Britain first started in China two months ago, as live exercise classes popped up on nearly every social media platform. The Chinese version of TikTok, Douyin, launched an "Online Gym" challenge to get people moving, featuring Olympic medalists. Gym brands such as Monkey College offered classes for "all the family" including grandparents, in a move similar to the online tutorials being offered by Joe Wicks.
On the video platform Bili Bili, viewers have been spending more than three hours a day watching live content from users or 'hosts' – many of whom have become influencers in the time of coronavirus – sing, dance or just chat. The vast majority of hosts on live streaming platforms are women, while most of the viewers are male. Indeed, the surge of activity on both parts during lockdown led to one of the biggest sites in China, Douyu, to introduce stricter regulations to avoid obscenity, banning female hosts specifically from showing their underwear, including "bikinis", as well as "see-through" clothing.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, demands for porn has also risen, according to search engine Baidu. Banned in China, people nevertheless have tried variations of "porn" to get around restrictions. There was an uptick in downloading VPNs, which allow users to jump China's virtual "firewall" to access sites overseas.
Among the other, more obscure trends is the hashtag "Balance lipstick on collarbone challenge" started by actress Chen Shu, an ambassador for Lancôme. Chen launched a 'challenge' asking users to post pictures of themselves balancing tubes of lipstick on their collarbones. Viewed as an advertising ploy by some, others have seen the challenge as a clear test of thinness, again putting a spotlight on weight. Weibo user, Tangerinestudent_Carrie, commented: "Do you drink five meals a day of dew water?" referring to how slim the actress is.
While aesthetics seems to have dominated much of the online chatter, there has been more original – and inspirational content during the time of coronavirus. Videos of women dressing up in beautiful dynastic clothing have been a hit, and the latest videos from Li Ziqu, a young woman who lives entirely off her grandma's farm in Sichuan, already had one million views a day after it was posted.
Women have also been showing a renewed interest in Chinese calligraphy, usually taught in school, according to online search terms from Baidu. Mothers are seemingly playing a bigger role in their children's schooling as "online education" has been popular among female internet users.
But with the number of new domestic Covid-19 infections consistently nearing zero in the last few weeks, shops and restaurants reopening, a more active outdoor life – and the possibility of showing off some legs – is in sight. Lockdown restrictions in Wuhan will be lifted this week. On social media, women are now posting pictures of spring blossom and meals in restaurants.
Given the near-identical way trends are playing out, so far, let's hope the UK will be doing the soon.
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