China’s drag culture finds its voice

“I do my make-up in my drag studio while binge-watching shows. I’ve literally finished six seasons of Sex and the City in the time it takes me to put on my make-up and wigs. Then, I’ll either get an Uber, or take public transport to the venue. People usually stare, but not for long. I know they find it weird, but they keep quiet.” It’s just another work day for Hong Kong-based drag queen Lilo May. Known offstage as Tony Leung, the personal trainer by day turned performer, theatre actor, and drag artist by night, is a rising star in the city's drag community. May is part of Drag Jam, a drag collective launched in 2018 by queens Muschi and Zsa Zsa. Located in Hong Kong, Drag Jam’s personas span drag queens, drag kings, and one bio queen (a colloquial term used for a cisgender female who also presents as female onstage). It hosts regular events across the city, including Halloween-themed competitions, “Drag Olympics,” and other performance nights, such as “Kinks and Queens,” “Drag Jam Circus,” and “Out and Proud.” Grassroots initiatives like Drag Jam, Shanghai-based Aphrodite, and Shenzhen-based Colorful Secret are steadily pushing the art form from the fringes into the mainstream spotlight. As is true globally, collaborating with drag artists in China presents an opportunity to connect with younger, creative consumers. However, brands must be respectful of these communities and understanding of the challenges they face. Western influences Over the past decade, drag culture has ballooned into big business, becoming firmly embedded in Western pop culture. Shows like RuPaul’s Drag Race have propelled figures such as Bimini Bon Boulash, Trixie Mattel, and Courtney Act into mainstream stardom, securing them brand deals, front-row spots at fashion weeks, and high-profile partnerships with leading entertainment outlets. US breakout sensation Chappell Roan has also helped bring the limelight onto drag culture. Roan, whose real name is Kayleigh Rose Amstutz, credits drag queens as major influences on her own image, with the star often paying homage to the greats in her stage looks. These Western influences have made their mark on China’s drag scene. “I would say most people in Hong Kong know drag probably because of Drag Race,” says May. May attributes Taiwanese drag queen Nymphia Wind's victory earlier this year as a pivotal moment in spotlighting the Chinese-speaking drag scene. She was the first East Asian winner in the Drag Race franchise. Hongwei Bao, author of Contemporary Chinese Queer Performance and Associate Professor in Media Studies at the University of Nottingham, also unpacks China’s proliferating drag culture and the West’s impact in his research. “The diversity of the drag culture in China is manifested by the different terms used to translate drag. Fanchuan (反串) and bianzhuang (变装) are two of the most common terms used to describe drag in Mandarin Chinese. Bianzhuang – usually translated as drag – refers primarily to contemporary drag performance in popular entertainment venues such as bars and clubs and its aesthetic is more akin to the American drag culture portrayed in Jennie Livingstone’s 1990 documentary Paris Is Burning,” Bao writes for Contemporary Theatre Review. While Western elements initially shaped China’s drag culture, the tide is turning as local artists put their own spin on bianzhuang to make it more regionally resonant. “We have noticed that more and more local drag personalities, events, and cultures are more open to fusing, dissolving, and flirting with local popular culture, rather than imitating Western models, such as parodying and satirizing China's own actors and actresses and social phenomena,” says Pooky Lee, fashion curator and founder of Shanghai-based creative agency Poptag. Meanwhile, May says that while Hong Kong’s drag scene has yet to make its mark, the city’s drag style remains distinctly diverse. “You can find drag performers doing anything from club gigs, lip syncs, to comedy and variety shows,” she says. Online fame Over on Xiaohongshu, drag content is gaining traction, with artists amassing sizable followings through makeup tutorials, performances, and recreations of iconic looks. The hashtags #drag and #dragqueen have accumulated nearly 5 million and 28 million views, respectively, as interest in drag culture among China’s digitally savvy, increasingly globalized audience grows. For example, KOL and makeup artist Xiao Qiannie (@聂小倩她老板) has accumulated over 1.3 million followers and a total of 12.1 million engagements with their content, solidifying them as one of the app’s most popular drag artists. Acknowledging their growing online influence, brands are now gifting creators like Qiannie products and forging partnerships for brand endorsements. Alongside Xiaohongshu, Lee points to Douyin as not just an effective tool, but a safe space. “[Douyin’s] livestreaming function, and so on, has allowed the development of drag culture in China to be presented to the public in a somewhat highly entertaining shape, weakening its political attributes and also accumulating a loyal audience within safe limits,” Lee says. Commercial evolution As drag’s global popularity reaches the masses, performers are turning it into serious business. Trixie Mattel’s makeup brand, Trixie Cosmetics, for example, has established itself as a strong player in the beauty industry. The brand has amassed over 400,000 followers on Instagram, and is stocked by retailers including Beauty Bay. Non-binary drag queen Bimini Bon Boulash is another artist with a diverse creative pipeline. They fronted Ciroc’s first UK campaign in 2022, participated in Cos’ “Sink the Pink” Pride campaign, and have become a regular fixture at London Fashion Week, attending shows from Dilara Fındıkoğlu to Harri and Dipetsa. Could the same be on the cards for China’s drag artists? The signs are promising – while local performers may not yet command as much public attention as their Western counterparts, brands are catching on. In June, Diesel bolstered visibility for China’s queer community with its “Diesel Queer Champ” Pride Month event at Shanghai’s Grand Gateway 66. The celebration featured drag performers, including Panty, Coke, and Kudos, who were styled in the brand’s S/S24 collection. Promising progression? A shift in attitudes toward gender fluidity among China’s younger consumers has paved the way for drag to become more commercially viable, with softened, more progressive views on gender helping to fuel the rise. “Drag culture is also very relevant to the youth demographic,” says Lee, “So, it's a good way for brands to connect with drag culture to reach a more gender-diverse segment of the Chinese youth population, which often coincides with a consumer profile that is open to avant-garde fashion.” That said, there’s still a long way to go. “More and more local drag queens are being born, but gay bars are closing down, and queens’ performance space is hindered,” says May. Outside of more progressive cities like Hong Kong and Shanghai, the public’s views in China skew traditional. “There’s still a lot of conservative people opposing [drag],” May says. So much so that Drag Jam had to cancel its Drag Queen Storytime event during Hong Kong’s Gay Games last year. Even still, May remains optimistic about the future of China’s drag community. “I think it’s blooming,” she says.

China’s drag culture finds its voice

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Published November 18, 2024

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China’s drag culture finds its voice