Chen Xiao and Li Qin are currently starring in Miles to Go 人生之路, a drama adaptation of the novel Life written by Lu Yao about a young man from a small rural village working hard to reach his dreams during the 80s. They say that it takes a village, and indeed thanks to the support of everyone in his hometown, that young man Gao Ji Lin (Chen Xiao) prevails over the obstacles thrown his way to achieve his goals. Thus far, the plot sounds pretty straight forward and quite retro. However the drama’s hair and makeup situation – particularly that of Li Qin’s, seems to be getting a fair bit of criticism for being too stereotypical of rural folks.
Whereas Li Qin’s complexion is quite fair in real life, the actress was looking very tanned and as some Netizens pointed out, sallow in the show. As she plays a rural girl working the fields in the sun, her character’s tanned complexion is reasonable. However, Netizens criticised her sallow and very tanned skin for playing on the overused cliché of country folk. Yes, working the fields will cause their skin to darken due to sun exposure and not enough sun protection but they should look healthy and robust. On the other hand, they say Li Qin looked dull and lifeless as if she was sick.
Meanwhile, Wu Chun’e the woman who served as the real life inspiration for Li Qin’s character Liu Qiao Zhen said Li Qin’s makeup was in fact very realistic and actually captured the times. Conditions during the 1980s were not as good, and back then everyone had to work the fields under the blazing sun. Even pretty girls weren’t exempt so even they got super tanned.
Source: 1
Kyoto
Looks like ZLY’s fans are jealous Li Qin did a better job at looking rural.