Cross-play: Transvestite student club a hit in Wuhan
Staff Reporter
2012-04-19
15:42 (GMT+8)
Male members of the Ailisi group dressed in female cosplay outfits. (Photo/CFP)
A group of cross-dressing male "weiniang" (literally "fake girl") performers has recently become popular in Wuhan, the provincial capital of Hubei in central China.
A potential group member has to have a feminine face and long and slim legs to be admitted, reports the Wuhan Evening News.
Called the Ailisi weiniang tuan (group), they are mostly college students, some of whom are lovers of cosplay — dressing up as comic book characters — and they started out as simply fans of ACG — Animation, Comics and Games, a subculture originating in Japan.
One day when there were no available girls to accompany them to a performance at an ACG festival, the boys decided to attend dressed in women's clothing. Unexpectedly, they were a hit.
Armed with this new idea, they started organizing shows for money and each member can now earn 500 yuan (US$79) per show. They appear and perform in character at cosplay festivals.
The group insist that the cross-dressing is a performance and not a lifestyle choice and that they will look for regular professions after graduating rather than taking the show further.
The group has now grown to 200 members and in addition to college students, they also count among their ranks office workers and other professionals and even doctors.
They also have their own team to help them with choreography, make-up, stage-setting and photography.
References:
Weiniang 偽娘
Ailisi weiniang tuan 愛麗絲偽娘團
