Face-loving Chinese find new facial expression fad

Samples of Baozou Comics stickers on WeChat app. [Photo/MOMO Ltd]

The fad of online stickers, or funny pictures with amusing facial expressions and witty words, has swept the country in friendly chats or even debate about political issues.

"I use stickers a lot," said Liu Yiran, a 23-year-old college student in Beijing, "They make us feel closer." She also collects interesting stickers from friends on chatting app like WeChat.

Like Liu, Miao Kaixian, a 24-year-old Beijinger, also love hilarious facial expression stickers because it proves a funny way to break ice when he met new friends.

"Once started in a conversation, such stickers could come endlessly," Miao said.

Originally inspired by Rage Comic, online facial expression stickers among young Chinese have their own features, combining cuteness with parody.

A common way of making such stickers is to add amusing words to a picture, especially some exaggerated human faces or comics, to express certain feelings. With photo-editing software Photoshop, numerous stickers have been created by Chinese netizens.

For example, Yao Ming, the well-known basketball star, remains the most classic and popular source for stickers making. His twisted laughter was made into hundreds of different laughable stickers, of which the most common ones are those on a comic panda.