The Chinese Instagram Village

In today’s social media game, simple selfies just don’t cut it anymore. The competition for attention is fierce and in order to keep eyeballs locked, some are stepping up their game. This is what I learned when I accidentally stumbled upon an area just outside Dali, China and found myself in the middle of a selfie wonderland.

Here, so-called adult amusement parks promise, in exchange for a small admission fee, the opportunity to create the perfect selfie. Standing on top of a derelict bus with a mountain range in the background? No problem! Posing with an alpaca in a rented white dress? Done.

More and more tourists from all over China are coming here to replicate pictures they have seen online and they don’t seem to mind that these pictures lack any kind of originality or uniqueness.

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