Li Doudou’s grey kitten squeezes in next to her as she applies makeup and puts her hair in a bun adorned with elaborate ornaments. Appearing like a character out of a Chinese historical drama, the 26-year-old property analyst is wearing a long Ming-dynasty-style blue tunic with sweeping sleeves and a flower design outlined in gold and silver thread, paired with a flowing, bright orange skirt. According to the CIA World Factbook, Han make up 91.6 per cent of the country’s total population, or over 1 billion people. Some of the movement’s most popular styles are from the Ming, Song and Tang dynasties – garments often clad in silk, bright colours and detailed embroidery. Ms Li, who lives in Hebei province in northeast China, is a devotee of the Hanfu movement – a subculture where people don the traditional clothing of China’s dominant Han ethnicity. Ms Li donned her first gown in March and has lost count of the Hanfu outfits in her wardrobe, she says. She was inspired to buy Hanfu by an account dubbed Nanzhi999, which shows numerous photos belonging to a slim Chinese man who regularly transforms himself into a young woman in elaborate traditional Chinese gowns. Ms Li is a recent adopter of Hanfu attire, and said she had “lost count” of the pieces in her wardrobe. WeChat is a central part of life in China, used for almost everything from transferring money to booking hotels. But now that I know my private messages are being censored, I am considering quitting. He has 1.1 million followers on the Douyin short video social media platform. Dai, who only gave her last name, a public relations manager at Chong Hui Han Tang, a 13-year-old national chain of Han clothing stores. While some Hanfu followers like the clothes for the fashion statement, some say its significance is greater. Social media has catapulted the profile of Hanfu aficionado Nanzhi999, who has 1.1 million followers. Li, cheongsam qipao at an event to mark Chinese Valentine’s Day in Beijing last month. The Chinese cultural revolution placed an emphasis on a uniform dress code. Over the past decade the Hanfu movement has grown in China and among the global Chinese diaspora. Brisbane Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide are all home to Hanfu associations. It is estimated Hanfu enthusiasts doubled to 2 million in 2018 from a year earlier, according to a survey by Hanfu Zixun, a popular community account on the WeChat social media platform. Led from the top down by Communist Party chairman Mao Zedong, the period purged China’s old traditions to realise the leader’s socialist revolution. This meant Western-style clothing, or clothing from China’s Imperial era were ditched in favour of a national dress that was utilitarian, which took its cues from the ‘Mao Suit’ – a dark military-style suit. Verity Wilson, a researcher in Chinese fashion, found that sartorial change was often enforced violently. Vogue China’s inaugural editor, Angelica Cheung, cheongsam inspired dress told fashion website Business of Fashion about the emphasis on sartorial uniformity in this period. Angelica Cheung’s Grandmother flushed her jewellery down the toilet during China’s Cultural Revolution. She said that during the cultural revolution, her Grandmother “out of panic flushed all her jewellery down the toilet”.
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