Does a Go player’s crowning as “Hupu Goddess” signal that men in China are choosing brains over looks?
Li Shuhao, a tech industry worker from Shenzhen, Guangdong province, doesn’t know much about the game of Go. But he still took the day off work to attend a local master championship of the ancient strategy game on September 21.
Despite the main event being closed to the public, he still got to the venue around 10 a.m. and watched the livestream on his phone outside with approximately 30 other men. After waiting for two hours under the sun, Li finally got to see what he came for—his idol, Zhan Ying, a female professional Go player-turned-livestreamer, and, most recently, the winner of this year’s “Hupu Goddess” contest.
Hayley Zhao is an English editor and writer at The World of Chinese. Born and raised in Beijing, Hayley is a multimedia journalist with experience in podcast production. You can find her binging TV shows and stand-up comedy at home when she’s not working.
