Dressed in fashionable clothing and with immaculate make-up, Ling Ling is seen dining at fancy cafes and restaurants; attending parties and social…

Dressed in fashionable clothing and with immaculate make-up, Ling Ling is seen dining at fancy cafes and restaurants; attending parties and social events with her girlfriends; travelling to places like Boracay, Tokyo and Dubai

But she does not cultivate her online image just to make herself feel good or her friends jealous. She is one of the new internet celebrities, known as Wang Hong

It’s a lucrative business, with Zhang Dayi, one of China’s best known Wang Hong, reportedly earning 300m yuan (35m pound; $46m). This compares favourably to top Chinese actress Fan Bingbing, who according to Forbes, made about $21m last year

There are two types of internet celebrities in China - those who create original content like Papi Jiang, who was once censured by Chinese authorities for excessive use of foul language in her videos, and the "fashionistas"

Ling Ling and Zhang Dayi fall into the second category, selling clothes and cosmetics on Taobao, China’s leading online shopping site

They work as their own shops’ models by posting pictures of themselves wearing the clothes they sell, and some of their followers become their most loyal customers

Ling Ling, who has been active online for 10 years and has more than 330,000 followers on Weibo, says she didn’t plan on becoming an internet celebrity

Her Taobao shop generates around 300,000 yuan in sales every month and that figure can double during festivals

According to CBNData, a commercial data company affiliated with Alibaba, the "internet celebrity economy" is set to be worth 58bn yuan in 2016, more than China’s box office in 2015

The enormous earning potential has led to the rise of internet celebrity incubators in China, which race to discover and nurture the next Zhang Dayi

Incubators like Tophot provide training for budding internet celebrities, with skills in photography, make-up and performance. They also represent internet celebrities and help them find jobs like product endorsements. In return, they take a cut from their earnings

Others in China worry about the standards of beauty online celebrities are creating for Chinese women

An attractive appearance seems to have become an indispensable quality for internet celebrities, and "internet celebrity face", which refers to the combination of doe eyes, a pointy chin, a high nose and fair skin, is a commonly used shorthand in China

According to CBNData, about 90% of customers of the online shops run by internet celebrities are females

In the report published by iiMedia Research, about 10% of internet celebrities admitted that they had undergone plastic surgery

"Internet celebrities create standard, rigid aesthetics and body images for women," says Li Sipan, founder of Women Awakening Network, a feminist group based in Guangzhou

Ms Li also says that many young women would believe that being an internet celebrity was a fast-track to success, and imitate their behaviour