爱穿白T恤的“阿喜”长得就像一个可爱的邻家女孩，她牙齿有点歪，脸上有痘印，甚至会毫不顾忌地在镜头前打哈欠，然而，正是这样不完美的虚拟偶像却受到了国内广大网友的喜爱，人气直逼真人明星。
Credit: Jesse Zhang
"Your skin's a bit dry," one user commented on a video posted by Angie, a popular influencer who first appeared on Chinese social media last fall. "You should apply a face mask."
阿喜是去年秋天在国内社交媒体上初次亮相的网红，一名用户在她发布的视频下面评论道：“你的皮肤有点干，应该做个面膜。”
In the video, uploaded to Douyin, Angie's skin looks bumpy and uneven. A gaping yawn reveals slightly crooked teeth.
在这段上传到抖音的视频中，阿喜的皮肤看上去不太平滑。她打了个大哈欠，露出了有点歪的牙齿。
She doesn't have "the face of a celebrity," another user remarked.
另一名用户评论道，她没有“明星脸”。
Typical influencers might clap back with a comment, but Angie is not a typical influencer -- she's not even a real person.
典型的网红可能会迅速在评论区回应，但是阿喜不是一个典型的网红，她甚至不是一个真人。
Angie is an imperfect virtual personality. She may still be conventionally pretty, but unlike China's other virtual influencers, Angie doesn't pose in designer clothes, walk the runway or promote new songs. Instead, she sports simple white tees, sips Coca-Cola and yawns on screen.
阿喜是一个不完美的虚拟人物。她可能也符合美女标准，但是和中国其他的虚拟网红不同，阿喜不穿名牌服装出镜，不走T台，也不宣传新歌。她穿着简单的白T恤，喝着可口可乐，在屏幕上打哈欠。
Sometimes she can be seen with a flushed face, and even zit or two. And her down-to-earth persona is clearly resonating on Douyin, where she has amassed over 280,000 followers to date.
有时她会脸红，甚至会长一两个痘痘。然而她接地气的人设显然在抖音上引发了共鸣，迄今为止她已经吸引了逾28万粉丝。
Virtual influencers are nothing new in China. The country's first digital KOL (key opinion leader) to go viral, Ling, was created in May 2020. With her sharp jawline, slender face and rosy lips, Ling reflects a traditional Chinese beauty ideal. This February she graced the cover of Vogue Me, a fashion magazine targeting China's "post-'90s" generation," alongside real-life celebrities G.E.M., Liu Haocun and Liu Yuxin.
虚拟网红在中国并不新鲜。中国首位走红网络的虚拟关键意见领袖翎于2020年5月面世。尖下巴、瓜子脸、朱砂唇，翎的长相非常符合中国传统审美。今年2月翎还和真人明星邓紫棋、刘浩存和刘雨昕一起登上了以90后为目标读者群的《服饰与美容》时尚杂志的封面。
But Angie offers a refreshing alternative, her fans say, in a country where demand for plastic surgery is surging and beauty apps compete to create filters that show users more beautiful versions of themselves.
但是阿喜的粉丝表示，在整容手术需求暴增、美妆APP争相研发美颜滤镜的环境，阿喜的出现让人耳目一新。
Angie is the creation of Jesse Zhang, director of a Shenzhen-based CGI animation company. Credit: Jesse Zhang
Angie is the creation of Jesse Zhang, the director of a Shenzhen-based CGI animation company.
阿喜的设计者杰西·张是深圳一家三维电脑动画公司的导演。
Zhang thought it would be fun to create a virtual character with imperfect features -- someone who could help people relax and feel more positive about themselves. Angie started taking shape in July 2020, and within three months Zhang had posted his character's first video to Douyin. By December, she had already gained around 100,000 fans.
Jesse认为创造出一个容貌不完美的虚拟人物会比较有意思，这样的虚拟人物可以帮助人们放松，让人们的自我感觉更良好。阿喜于2020年7月初具雏形，三个月后Jesse在抖音上发布了阿喜的第一个视频。同年12月，阿喜已经斩获近10万粉丝。
"I didn't think she would take off so quickly," he said, attributing her popularity to her calming, casual videos.
Jesse表示：“我没想到她会这么快走红。”他将阿喜的走红归功于她那些风格随意、让人平静的视频。
"Her characteristics and details all have a bit of this 'real-life' feeling," Zhang said. "But she also has some things a real person wouldn't have. Her ears are a bit like a fairy's, and her eyes are round, big and cute."
Jesse指出：“她的特征和细节都有点真实感，但是她也拥有真人所没有的一些东西。她的耳朵长得有点像精灵，她的眼睛又大又圆，很可爱。”
Despite knowing she's not real, many of Angie's followers eagerly tell her about their day in two group chats on Douyin.
尽管知道阿喜不是真人，许多粉丝还是在两个抖音聊天群里和阿喜热切地分享自己的日常生活。
Some fans have credited Angie with cheering them up or helping them de-stress amid life's predicaments. "Angie, last time I left you a message saying that lately I was feeling really sad. Now, I'm doing much better," one fan wrote. "As I was getting ready to take an afternoon nap, I saw your video and was put in an even better mood!"
一些粉丝称赞阿喜可以让自己开心起来，或者帮助他们缓解生活困境中的压力。一名粉丝写道：“阿喜，上次我给你留言说，最近我感觉很悲伤。现在我好多了。我正打算下午打个盹，我就看到你的视频，心情变得更好了！”
The follower said they were prepping for the upcoming semester, and that they would strive to work hard in school. "Keep pressing on," Angie wrote in response, adding that sad moments will become things of the past.
这名粉丝称，他们正在备战新学期，并表示会在学校用功学习。阿喜回复说：“继续加油。”还表示伤心的时刻会过去的。
"The reason why I like her is that Angie is more realistic than many people who are actually real," one of her followers Xiao Qi, a millennial living in the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing, told CNN. "She gives the impetuous world a touch of beauty."
家住重庆的千禧一代粉丝小奇（音译）告诉美国有线电视新闻网说：“我喜欢阿喜的原因是她比许多真人更真实，她给这个浮躁的世界带来了一丝美感。”
Angie's real-life characteristics are part of her appeal -- but they have also attracted criticism online. Some Douyin users have disapproved of her thick thighs, creased makeup, faint acne scars and uneven skin.
阿喜的真实特征是她的魅力，但是也招来了网上的一些批评声。某些抖音用户不喜欢她的粗大腿、粗糙的妆容、若隐若现的痘痕和不平滑的肌肤。
Angie's Douyin account sees her playing piano, styling her hair and walking outside. Credit: Jesse Zhang
Underneath one video, in which Angie is seen sipping Coca-Cola, one user asked why she wasn't created with "double eyelids."
在阿喜喝可口可乐的一个视频下，一名用户问道，为什么不把阿喜设计成“双眼皮”？
Criticisms of Angie's appearance reflect ongoing debates over beauty standards in China. There is still huge pressure on women to conform to certain beauty ideals, according to Jaehee Jung, a professor of fashion and apparel studies at the University of Delaware. Her research into perceptions of attractiveness among college students in Shanghai found that most wanted to change something about their bodies -- for example, slimmer bodies or bigger eyes.
对阿喜外貌的批评反映出国内当前对审美标准的讨论。特拉华大学时尚与服饰学教授郑在熙（音译）表示，中国女性所承受的外貌压力依然很大。她面向上海大学生开展了一项审美调查，发现大多数女生都想让自己的身体发生一些改变，比如变得更瘦或眼睛变大。
"Many of these young women think, 'Wow, you have to keep up with beauty trends', otherwise you're considered lazy," Jung said.
郑在熙称：“许多受访的年轻女性都认为必须赶上审美潮流，否则会被视为懒女人。”
As such, an imperfect virtual character like Angie is, Jung suggested, more relatable for many Chinese girls and women.
郑在熙指出，正是像阿喜这样不完美的虚拟人物更能引发许多中国女性的共鸣。
She said. "I think for many viewers, they see themselves."
她说：“我认为，许多观众都在阿喜身上看到了自己。”
英文来源：美国有线电视新闻网
翻译&编辑：丹妮
