BBC Homepage
  • Skip to content
  • Accessibility Help
  • Your account
  • Notifications
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
  • More menu
More menu
Search BBC
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
Close menu
BBC News
Menu
  • Home
  • InDepth
  • Israel-Gaza war
  • War in Ukraine
  • Climate
  • UK
  • World
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Culture
More
  • Tech
  • Science
  • Health
  • Family & Education
  • In Pictures
  • Newsbeat
  • BBC Verify
  • Disability
  • BBC Trending

Chinese vlogger who used filter to look younger caught in live-stream glitch

  • Published
    30 July 2019
Share page
About sharing
Your Highness Qiao Biluo without a filter and with a filterImage source, Douyu
Image caption,

Your Highness Qiao Biluo's real appearance (left) and one of her filtered faces (right) from an earlier livestream on Douyu

Dhruti Shah & Kerry Allen
BBC News & BBC Monitoring

Fans of a popular Chinese video blogger who called herself "Your Highness Qiao Biluo" have been left stunned after a technical glitch during one of her live-streams revealed her to be a middle-aged woman and not the young glamorous girl they thought her to be.

The revelation has led to discussions about standards of beauty across the country's social media platforms.

The blogger, who initially boasted a follower count of more than 100,000 on Douyu, external, is believed to have used a filter on her face during her appearances, and had been renowned for her "sweet and healing voice".

China's Global Times said she had been "worshipped" as a "cute goddess" by some members of her loyal audience with some fans even giving her more than 100,000 yuan ($14,533, £11,950).

However, live-streaming platform Lychee News says, external the incident happened on 25 July, during a joint live-stream with another user, Qingzi on the Douyu platform.

The Global Times reports that all was as normal and that her fans urged her to show her face and remove her filter but she refused, instead apparently saying: "I can't show my face until I receive gifts worth 100,000 yuan ($11,950). After all, I'm a good-looking host."

Followers began to send her donations with the largest reported to be 40,000 yuan ($5,813, £4,780) during the session.

However, at some point, it seems the filter being used by the vlogger stopped working and her real face became visible to her viewers.

She is reported to have noticed only when people who had signed up to her VIP access room started exiting en masse.

Many of her original followers - especially men - are said to have stopped following her and withdrawn their transactions after seeing her true identity.

  • Why dull video streams are big business

  • The 'online goddess' who earns $450k a year

  • 'My unrequited love for internet showgirls'

Most commentators said her followers were gullible, superficial and deserved to be "tricked" into parting with their cash gifts without first verifying her identity.

Users on both Bilibili and YouTube have captured the footage , external.

Qiao Biluo has since suspended her platform according to Weibo users, who are debating the impact of what happened.

Some users are saying it's good riddance to her for conning people out of their money. But others question the IQ of the men throwing money at her.

Some users are more sympathetic, asking people not to judge her by her appearance, noting that her popularity came from her voice, and that she might have to seek therapy after the backlash.

And some are praising the other live-streamer, Qingzi, who showed no reaction to Qiao Biluo's face being revealed.

How to stand out?

The story has been incredibly popular across Chinese social networks with more than 600 million people reading posts that use a hashtag which translates to "female vlogger experiences bug showing her old lady face" and more than 50,000 using the hashtag itself.

China has more than 425 million live-streamers and the use of face filters is something that is common across the myriad of social platforms.

The country is extremely nervous about the growing popularity of live-streaming. Broadcast media in China is tightly controlled, and with the exception of news coverage, footage on TV needs weeks of approval before it can be aired.

Live-streamers are discouraged from broadcasting in a public sphere, and are extremely restricted on what they can say. Expressing their opinions could result in a backlash from the authorities if the content is deemed to be politically sensitive or against government rhetoric. They also have to be careful that they are not seen to be "vulgar".

Consequently, many live-streamers simply sing karaoke in their bedrooms, or eat snacks for hours on end.

And the highly lucrative industry is saturated by young female users, who will go to extreme lengths to stand out.

In another twist, the attention the story has attracted means that although Qiao Biluo stopped live-streaming after the incident, her Douyu profile page now has 650,000 followers.

More on this story

  • Why dull video streams are big business

    • Published
      6 December 2017
    A Chinese content creator Jing Jing, who is represented by VS Media

Top stories

  • Live. 

    Germany to stop arms sales to Israel that could be used in Gaza after takeover plan approved

    • 14272 viewing14k viewing
  • Boy, 15, found guilty of murdering fellow pupil

    • Published
      22 minutes ago
  • Courts service 'covered up' IT bug that caused evidence to go missing

    • Published
      7 hours ago

More to explore

  • Cacio e pepe: Good Food pasta recipe sparks fury in Italy

    pasta in a bowl with cheese and pepper
  • Big Mags: The paedophile-hunting granny who built a heroin empire

    Mags Haney outside her home in the Raploch talking to two police officers. The photo from the mid 1990s shows Haney with short bleached blond hair and big earrings. She is wearing a pink cardigan and and orange t-shirt. A number of locals are standing around watching the scene
  • Faisal Islam: Why has the Bank of England cut rates?

    Andrew Bailey, Bank of England governor, looks straight at the camera. he's wearing glasses and a dark suit.
  • India's immigration raids send ripples through slums and skyscrapers alike

    A woman stands in a slum in Delhi
  • Watch: See where China plans to put its controversial mega-embassy

    A composite image of Damian Grammaticas and the proposed China embassy
  • Weekly quiz: Which baby names took top spot?

    A stock photo shows a baby looking directly at the camera while pouting as they prop their head up on an outdoor chair with bokeh depth of field behind.
  • Who is most likely to challenge Liverpool this season?

    • Attribution
      Sport
    Liverpool celebrate with Premier League trophy
  • Why Trump-Putin talks unlikely to bring rapid end to Ukraine war

    A composite image of Donald Trump on the left and Vladimir Putin on the right. Both men are wearing suits.
  • Summer Essential: Your family’s guide to the summer, delivered to your inbox every Tuesday

    concentric circles ranging from orange to yellow to represent the sun, with a blue sky background
loading elsewhere stories

Most read

  1. 1

    Boy, 15, found guilty of murdering fellow pupil

  2. 2

    MP mistakes charity rowers for 'illegal migrants'

  3. 3

    Boy, 4, dies after being hit by bus as he walked out of hospital

  4. 4

    Is Perrier as pure as it claims? The bottled water scandal gripping France

  5. 5

    Britons booking 'later, closer, shorter' UK breaks

  6. 6

    Mushroom murderer tried to kill husband with pasta, cookies and curry, court was told

  7. 7

    Cacio e pepe: Good Food pasta recipe sparks fury in Italy

  8. 8

    Big Mags: The paedophile-hunting granny who built a heroin empire

  9. 9

    Courts service 'covered up' IT bug that caused evidence to go missing

  10. 10

    Suspected people smuggling arrest after BBC probe

BBC News Services

  • On your mobile
  • On smart speakers
  • Get news alerts
  • Contact BBC News

Best of the BBC

  • Your latest reality TV obsession has landed on iPlayer

    • Attribution
      iPlayer
    Destination X
  • Jacob Elordi stars in explosive war drama

    • Attribution
      iPlayer
    The Narrow Road to the Deep North
  • Inside the front-line fight against cybercriminals

    • Attribution
      iPlayer
    Panorama: Fighting Cyber Criminals
  • A rare glimpse into the world of rope access

    • Attribution
      iPlayer
    Our Lives: High Stakes
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
  • Terms of Use
  • About the BBC
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookies
  • Accessibility Help
  • Parental Guidance
  • Contact the BBC
  • Make an editorial complaint
  • BBC emails for you

Copyright © 2025 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.