A downtown, Nanjing wet-market stall owner has become an online hit, thanks to dance moves she performs in her day-to-day down-to-earth surroundings. But it’s not only the dance that has attracted the eyes of millions, just as much it’s what’s going on in the background.
And the short video creator was back in the limelight, this past Saturday, 6 March, when local reporters visited her to find out just why this ordinary lady has been nicknamed by online fans as “Bean Curd Beauty” (豆腐西施; Doufu Xishi), the translation of which is interesting in and of itself.
Dating from around 450 BCE, Xishi was a famous Chinese beauty, foremost of the four legendary beauties (四大美女), given by King Gou Jian (勾踐) of the State of Yue as concubine to King of Wu, as part of a successful plan to destroy him.
Li Guangqin (李光琴) works in the Houjiaqiao (侯家桥) Vegetable Market on Nantai Alley, just off Wangfu Da Jie in Nanjing’s Xinjiekou. Hailing from from Anhui Province, the 34-year old has been running a doufu stall with her husband for 7 or 8 years.
But Li is no overnight internet sensation. Her shooting dance videos dates back to November 2019. One day, she propped up her mobile phone behind the counter in her stall, played some music she liked and then danced to the rhythm. Her stall of little more than ten square metres had become her stage.
Modern Express reported that while Li’s video making was in the beginning entirely for entertainment, it gradually became a trending topic, first among the local community and then further afield.
When a reporter came to meet Li on Saturday, she was doing a live broadcast. Wearing a black-and-white sweater and with her hair in a ponytail, she politely communicated with customers, sold them doufu and from time to time exchanged greetings with her hundreds of thousands of fans online.
Secrets of the Bean Curd Beauty; The Stalls Behind the Dance
Li’s videos have accumulated over 11 million views to date and more than a million points on Douyin. Their allure, however, in not only down to Li’s moves and her winning smile. Neither are her dances particularly difficult, nor the videos professionally edited.
Instead, her growing audience of more than 10 thousand fans is also attracted to the background scene which is forever changing. Rather than a slick, computer-generated backdrop, there is the cold reality of a smoke-filled restaurant, the man who sells cold cuts of meat, Li with her doufu or all the people passing by with strange expressions on their faces.
Indeed, such juxtapositions are the reason for Li’s videos’ success. “Dancing in the food market; this contrast makes people feel very strange”, she said. For herself, Li is just quite happy being the Bean Curd Beauty.
