Liu Yexi
A Chinese CG virtual character who began on Douyin as a ghost-hunting makeup creator in a cyberpunk-meets-traditional style and now makes short dramas and skits.
- Since
- 2021
- Last updated
- 13 October 2026
- Nature
- AI persona
- Niche
- Beauty
- Style
- Photorealistic
- Debut
- 2021
- Origin
- Shenzhen, China
- Created by
- Shenzhen Chuangyi Technology and Culture
Summary
Liu Yexi is a virtual character built with film-style post-production and CG, introduced on Douyin on 31 Oct 2021 (Halloween) as a ghost-hunting virtual makeup creator in a cyberpunk-meets-traditional-Chinese style. Her first video drew over 3 million likes and about 1.5 million followers in two days; coverage reports 4.35M by 7 Nov and 8.6M by end of 2021. Each early video reportedly took about a month to make, and she was posted roughly twice a month. She is run by Chuangyi Video (创壹视频) / Shenzhen Chuangyi Technology and Culture, whose CEO Liang Zikang is named. She has since moved into short dramas, skits and cultural pieces on Bilibili, Weibo and Douyin; a 2026 article says her pace and reach have faded.
Is Liu Yexi AI?
Yes. Liu Yexi is a computer-generated virtual beauty influencer made by the Shenzhen studio Chuangyi Video (Shenzhen Chuangyi Technology and Culture), not a real woman.
The coverage agrees that Liu Yexi is not a real person. China Daily says outright that she is a virtual avatar developed by Shenzhen Chuangyi Technology and Culture. 36Kr quotes Chuangyi's founder, Xie Duosheng, saying the studio built her from its CG and facial-driving know-how and launched her as a "2.5-dimensional" virtual idol, set beside real actors in her videos. Digitaling and Pedaily also describe her as a virtual beauty creator, and Digitaling says each video took about a month to make. No page names a model, actor or voice behind her.
She is "AI" in the older sense of a virtual human: the pages describe film-style visual effects and CG, not a generative AI model. The company's statement through its founder is the strongest evidence. The other articles mostly repeat the launch story.
Some things are still unknown. Facial-driving technology usually means a human performer's expressions animate the face, but no page says whose. None of the pages names who voices her or whether a filmed body sits under the CG head. Her own Douyin profile and any platform AI labels were not recorded.
Evidence
China Daily reports that Liu is not a real person but a virtual avatar developed by Shenzhen Chuangyi Technology and Culture Co Ltd, a company that makes visual content and digital avatars.
global.chinadaily.com.cn36Kr quotes Chuangyi founder Xie Duosheng saying the studio drew on its CG and facial-driving experience to create her as a 2.5-dimensional virtual idol who appears alongside real people in short videos.
36kr.comDigitaling describes her as a virtual beauty creator who catches demons, says she looks almost like a real person, and reports that each video took her team about a month to make.
digitaling.comPedaily calls her a virtual beauty creator and names Chuangyi Video as the company behind her.
news.pedaily.cn
Assessed 9 October 2026