At the Great Tang All Day Mall in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, a group of international visitors drew curious glances from shoppers at the bustling commercial hub during the Spring Festival holiday. Wearing hanfu (traditional Chinese attire), the visitors could pass for merchants who had stepped straight from the scrolls of a classical Chinese painting.

Such a sight mirrors the recent uptrend of wearing traditional Chinese outfits. Apart from watching pandas or eating hotpot, some visitors prefer putting on traditional Chinese outfits, transforming themselves into an ancient Chinese literati, knight or aristocrat, to experience Chinese culture in a truly unique way.

Isabelle Hannedouche, managing director of Sodexo Greater China, has moved from France to work in China for three years. During her stay, the qipao, a traditional Chinese dress, completely won her over.

"What I really love about China and would love to bring home is a qipao, which I think is a very good symbol of Chinese culture," said Hannedouche, adding that she possesses a nice collection of qipao, most of which are tailor-made.

Qipao combined with a traditional Chinese hairstyle is also Hannedouche's preferred choice for special occasions, as "such attire not only embodies the graceful and gentle beauty of women, but also exudes a heroic and spirited charm".

Rachel Jones, a blogger and illustrator from the United States, is a hanfu fan. Six years ago, while browsing fashion content online, she saw a video about hanfu and was pleasantly surprised by the ancient and elegant Eastern clothing.

"That was when I became a fan. I learned Chinese to know more about the clothing of various dynasties, and have also tried to make hanfu myself. I post videos of myself wearing hanfu and have accumulated 100,000 fans on Chinese social media platforms."

In daily life, Jones also wears clothing that features hanfu elements when she goes out. "On one occasion, I paired a purple square cut skirt with a vintage Western lace top. This combination unexpectedly won the favor of many Chinese and foreign netizens. They said they never expected the gentle elegance of the Chinese style and the vintage style of the West to complement each other so well."

Julie Odsgaard Laursen, a blogger from Denmark, persuaded her mother to wear hanfu for their visit to the Forbidden City in Beijing, during which they received many compliments from strangers, making them exclaim that "China is so welcoming".

Wang Peng, an associate research fellow at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, said, "Chinese-style clothing, with its minimalist tailoring and unique oriental hues, precisely strikes the global aesthetic consensus of 'refinement, elegance and high quality', becoming a powerful tool in enhancing one's temperament in the eyes of foreigners."

Unlike grand narratives, Chinese-style clothing has entered the public eye via shares and immersive check-ins on social media platforms. This dissemination method, driven by individual emotions and accompanied by kind interactions with strangers, presents Chinese culture in a warm and friendly way, lowering the threshold for cross-cultural understanding, Wang said.

Data from e-commerce platform Douyin show that in 2024, orders from women purchasing Chinese-style outfits experienced a growth of 195 percent year-on-year.

To promote the use of Chinese-style outfits overseas, Wang said more efforts should be made to encourage foreign visitors to leverage big-name social media platforms — such as TikTok and Instagram — to share their own stories related to Chinese cultural elements.

"Through this decentralized narrative, Chinese-style outfits are portrayed as a fashionable subculture that global youth can participate in together," Wang said.

zhengyiran@chinadaily.com.cn