Liuliang mingxing means 'traffic star'. It names a performer whose value is measured in online attention, such as followers, posts and votes, rather than acting skill, and the shorthand liuliang, 'traffic', is used for an actor's pull on fan attention. The word is neutral in industry talk and often a put-down in fan arguments. Chinese regulators moved against the fan culture around such stars in 2021, and a piece on the site follows how idols turn into actors.
Dramas
Where it comes up
Short to long: China's micro-dramas start sending hits and stars upstream
Two premieres on one October day show the traffic between vertical micro-dramas and long Chinese television running the other way: a four-billion-view phone hit remade as a 24-episode series, and last year's biggest micro-drama actress in a Republican-era drama. What the long platforms are buying, what the actors have to relearn, and why a hashtag about short dramas making people stupid makes the move matter.
