Ling Ling, a 29-year-old living in Shanghai, has gone to great lengths to curate a picture-perfect life on social media. Her photos on micro-blogging site Weibo show her glamorous and leisurely life.
玲玲是生活在上海的一个29岁女孩，她在社交媒体上精心营造了完美的生活。微博上晒的都是自己光鲜亮丽的休闲生活照。
Dressed in fashionable clothing and with immaculate make-up, Ling Ling is seen dining at fancy cafes and restaurants; attending parties and social events with her girlfriends; travelling to places like Boracay, Tokyo and Dubai.
照片里，玲玲衣着时尚、妆容精致，或是出现在高级餐厅和咖啡厅，或是和闺蜜们参加聚会和社交活动，要么就是在菲律宾长滩岛、东京和迪拜四处旅游。
But she does not cultivate her online image just to make herself feel good or her friends jealous. She is one of the new internet celebrities, known as Wang Hong.
但是她苦心经营自己的网络形象并不是为了让自我感觉良好或是让朋友羡慕嫉妒。她只是一个新晋的网络红人，即网红。
It's a lucrative business, with Zhang Dayi, one of China's best known Wang Hong, reportedly earning 300m yuan (£35m; $46m). This compares favourably to top Chinese actress Fan Bingbing, who according to Forbes, made about $21m last year.
网红是个利润颇丰的行业。据报道，中国网红第一人张大奕收入已高达三亿元（合3500万英镑、4600万美元），已经完全超过中国的一线明星范冰冰了。据福布斯报道，去年范冰冰的收入约为2100万美元。
Online fashionistas
网络时尚达人
There are two types of internet celebrities in China - those who create original content like Papi Jiang, who was once censured for excessive use of foul language in her videos, and the "fashionistas".
中国有两种网络红人。一是因自制原创内容出名的，比如曾因在视频中频繁使用粗俗语言而被勒令整改的Papi酱。第二种就是网络时尚达人。
Ling Ling and Zhang Dayi fall into the second category, selling clothes and cosmetics on Taobao, China's leading online shopping site.
玲玲和张大奕则属于第二种类型，她们在中国某主要网购零售平台上售卖衣服和化妆品。
They work as their own shops' models by posting pictures of themselves wearing the clothes they sell, and some of their followers become their most loyal customers.
她们穿着自家销售的衣服拍照，为自己的网店充当模特，而一些粉丝也就成为了她们最忠实的买家。
Ling Ling, who has been active online for 10 years and has more than 330,000 followers on Weibo, says she didn't plan on becoming an internet celebrity.
玲玲已经在网上活跃十年了，微博拥有超过33万粉丝，但她说自己原本无意成为一名网红。
"In the beginning, there were only online forums. I posted pictures and wrote online every day and a lot of people started paying attention to me."
“刚开始的时候只有论坛。我每天晒图配文，得到了许多人的关注。”
When she was 18, Ling Ling started a bricks-and-mortar clothing shop in Shanghai, but she soon realised that her online fame would bring more business.
玲玲18岁时在上海开了家实体服装店，但是她很快意识到了网络名气能给她带来更多生意。
"You will be able to reach to customers across the nation with an online store. I've got quite a lot of customers in Beijing and Guangzhou," she says.
她说：“开网店的话，你可以遇到全国各地的人。我的很多买家都是北京人和广州人。”
Her Taobao shop generates around 300,000 yuan in sales every month and that figure can double during festivals.
她的网店每月销售额约为三十万元，节假日时这个数字还会翻倍。
But these numbers did not satiate her ambition, so she signed a contract with Tophot, an incubator aimed at nurturing top internet celebrities.
但是她并没有满足于此，所以她和网红孵化公司Tophot签订了合同，这家公司旨在培养顶级网红。
'Outperforming A-listers'
比一线明星的表现更优异
According to CBNData, a commercial data company affiliated with Alibaba, the "internet celebrity economy" is set to be worth 58bn yuan in 2016, more than China's box office in 2015.
根据第一财经商业数据中心（CBNData，基于阿里巴巴的一家商业数据公司），2016年“网红经济”市值将达到580亿元，超过2015年中国的票房总收入。
The enormous earning potential has led to the rise of internet celebrity incubators in China, which race to discover and nurture the next Zhang Dayi.
巨大的盈利空间带动了“网红孵化公司”的兴起，这些公司争先恐后地挖掘和培养下一个“张大奕”。
Incubators like Tophot provide training for budding internet celebrities, with skills in photography, make-up and performance. They also represent internet celebrities and help them find jobs like product endorsements. In return, they take a cut from their earnings.
诸如Tophot此类的网红孵化公司会培训崭露头角的网红，教授她们拍照、化妆以及表演技巧。公司也作为网红代表为她们寻求产品代言的工作，并收取网红收入的一定提成作为回报。
Janet Chen, founder of Tophot, said internet celebrities had already "outperformed" showbiz A-listers and she attributes this to the fact that they are more down-to-earth and approachable.
Tophot公司的创办者陈誉瑾表示，网红的表现已优于一线大腕了，这是因为网红更“接地气”，更平易近人。
"Zhang Dayi is not an exceptional beauty, but she looks like someone you can be friends with. People think they can look like her if they put on some make-up," Ms Chen says.
陈女士说：“张大奕并不是一个大美人，但是她看起来是那种可以和你做朋友的人。人们觉得如果自己化点妆的话，也能像张大奕一样。”
*********张大奕简介**********
张大奕，淘宝第一网红，作为模特出道，淘宝素颜大赛第一名得主。她的私服搭配在社交平台上深受粉丝喜爱，其电商店铺上线新品2秒钟内即被顾客“秒 光”，月销售额达百万级。她的收入令人眼红，甚至超过很多一线明星。张大奕目前在微博上拥有317万粉丝，几乎每一条微博的回复都在近千条。粉丝追求时 尚，认可张大奕的穿衣风格，“复购率几乎是100%”。
*****************************
She says Tophot has signed cooperation agreements with 30,000 emerging internet celebrities.
她说Tophot公司已签约了三万名新晋网红了。
Although obviously not all are set for stardom.
显而易见的是，并不是她们所有人都能成为演员。
And internet celebrity incubators are becoming increasingly popular with investors, says Zhang Yi, founder of iiMedia Research, a Guangzhou-based media consultancy firm.
广州艾媒咨询集团（iiMedia）的创始人张毅说，现在越来越多的投资者开始青睐于网红孵化公司了。
He says there are already about 50 internet celebrity incubators in China. But, he points out, some investors worry about the long-term prospects of the industry.
他表示，现在中国已有五十多家网红孵化公司。但是他也指出，一些投资者对网红产业的长远发展表示担忧。
"A lot of factors behind [the popularity of] internet celebrities cannot be duplicated," Mr Zhang says. "The failure rate [of investment of internet celebrity incubators] is 95% or above."
他说：“推动网红真正走红的原因许许多多，它们都是不可复制的，投资这些孵化公司的失败率高达95%以上。”
Others in China worry about the standards of beauty online celebrities are creating for Chinese women.
其他中国人则担忧的是网红美女们在中国创造的审美标准。
An attractive appearance seems to have become an indispensable quality for internet celebrities, and "internet celebrity face", which refers to the combination of doe eyes, a pointy chin, a high nose and fair skin, is a commonly used shorthand in China.
容貌姣好成为了网红的必备条件之一。在中国，人们俗称的“网红脸”要具有大眼睛，尖下巴，高鼻子，白皮肤等特征。
According to CBNData, about 90% of customers of the online shops run by internet celebrities are females.
根据第一财经，网红们开的网店中90%的顾客都是女性。
In the report published by iiMedia Research, about 10% of internet celebrities admitted that they had undergone plastic surgery.
艾媒咨询集团的一份调查报告显示，大约有10%的网红承认她们整过容。
"Internet celebrities create standard, rigid aesthetics and body images for women," says Li Sipan, founder of Women Awakening Network, a feminist group based in Guangzhou.
女性觉醒网的创始人李思磐说：“网红给女性们创造了刻板生硬的审美标准。” 女性觉醒网是广州的一个女权主义组织。
Ms Li also says that many young women would believe that being an internet celebrity was a fast-track to success, and imitate their behaviour.
李女士表示，很多年轻女性认为当网红是通往成功的捷径，并纷纷效仿网红们的做法。
'She's an idol'
她是我的偶像
But the fans are devoted and unlike with movie stars and top musicians, they get a lot of access to their favourite internet celebrity.
粉丝们很热情，她们可以通过许多途径接触到自己喜爱的网红，不像追电影明星和一线歌手那样难。
Ling Ling employees six assistants, but she says she is the one who interacts with her fans online. Apart from Weibo and WeChat, Ling Ling also conducts live-streaming sessions at times.
玲玲雇佣了六个助理，但是她说她会亲自跟粉丝在网上互动，不会让助理代劳。除了微博和微信互动，玲玲有时还会做几次直播。
"Fans are most important," Ling Ling says. "I have been working in the business for 10 years and I am thankful for the support of my fans."
“粉丝们是最重要的，”玲玲说，“我已经在这行做了十年了，真的非常感谢粉丝们的支持。”
"Ling Ling is very friendly [to fans]. There are always chances for us to meet her," says Hu Xiaofei, a long-time fan who spends about 1,000 yuan on Ling Ling's shop every season.
“玲玲对粉丝们很友好。我们总会有机会见到她本人的。”胡小菲（音）这样说道。胡小菲很早以前就成为了玲玲的粉丝，她每个季节都在玲玲的网店上消费大约一千元。
"She is like an idol [to me]. I will learn how to mix and match and put on make-up from her posts."
“对我来说她就是一个偶像。我会从她晒的照片里学习搭配衣服以及化妆技巧。”
Janet Chen firmly believes that the digital native generation - those born in and after the 90s like Hu Xiaofei - will continue to fuel the popularity of internet celebrities in the long run.
陈誉瑾坚信数字原住民一代（像胡小菲这种90后出生的一代）将会继续促进网红行业的繁荣。
"When these generations become the mainstream group, their [digital] habits will dominate society's consumption pattern," she adds.
她补充道，“当这些孩子成为社会主流群体时，他们的数字习惯将会决定整个社会的消费模式”。
However, Ling Ling admits that she sometimes feels insecure.
然而，玲玲承认她有时会觉得没有安全感。
"There are so many [social media] platforms and new internet celebrities. There are more and more pretty girls… Even for top internet celebrities, if they do not work hard, people may not know them at all in a few years."
“现在的社交平台这么多，网红的数量也很庞大，有这么多漂亮的女孩子。就算是顶级网红，不努力工作也可能就意味着很快地被人们遗忘。”
Vocabulary
immaculate: 完美的；无瑕疵的
bricks-and-mortar: 实体的
incubator: 孵化器