Move over RuPaul – meet the Chinese drag queens standing up and speaking out, from TikTok live-streams to drag contests

Provincial teen Yan Anyu says when he is dressed as a man, he isn’t confident – but as drag queen Miss Cream, she is ‘very confident, graceful and charming’

The drag queen community in China has stepped discreetly into the spotlight, in some cases inspired by the TV show RuPaul’s Drag Race

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Yan Anyu gets ready at a friend’s home for his first stage performance as drag queen Miss Cream, having launched his act on TikTok, where he gained 140,000 followers. Photo: AFP

Published: 7:15pm, 1 Jul 2020Updated: 6:48pm, 2 Jul 2020

A Shanghai stage is bathed in neon as a whistle from the crowd pierces the air, heralding the live debut of Chinese drag queen “Miss Cream”.

Yan Anyu, an 18-year-old from the northern province of Hebei in China, strutted out in a glittering sequinned gown, heavy make-up and a curly blond wig to lip-synch Donna Summers’ disco standard Last Dance to a rapt crowd.

“When I’m dressed like a man, I’m not so confident,” said Yan, outrageously long fake lashes fluttering from eyes framed by glittering make-up.

That changes when he becomes Miss Cream. “She’s very confident, graceful and charming – a real queen.”

Miss Cream gets ready before her first presentation as a drag queen in a bar of the city of Shanghai. Photo: AFP

In China, members of a small but growing drag community have begun to step into the spotlight.

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