ETYMOLOGY
The rise of Yan Gou mirrors China's evolving beauty culture. Emerging from K-pop style fandom circles circa 2015, it initially mocked face-only fans who ignored idols' talents. The semantic shift happened during the 2016 drama Love O2O, when viewers flooded Weibo with:
As a certified Yan Gou, I surrender to Yang Yang's divine visuals!This self-aware usage resonated with millennials navigating China's appearance-driven social media landscape. Key evolution stages:
2017: Douyin (TikTok) influencers normalize I'm just a Yan Gou captions2019: Cosmetic brands co-opt the term (For Yan Gous who appreciate packaging art)2022: 73% users on Xiaohongshu use it humorously per ByteDance researchCultural context: Unlike Western thirsty which focuses on desire, Yan Gou combines aesthetic appreciation with playful submission to beauty standards. It's a linguistic pressure valve in a society where the looks economy is worth US$72 billion.