One of the first things that most foreigners coming to Greater China notice (and usually mockingly emulate themselves) is Chinese people making the “peace”/”V” sign in virtually every public or group photo that’s taken, whether or not peace/victory has just been declared. It is in fact the default pose for any photo taken in China, even when perhaps a more solemn stance in front of a war memorial may be more appropriate. While this two-fingered gesture goes back at least hundreds of years (the precise origin is unknown), it’s thought that its popular usage in China and across Asia probably originated in Japan, where in 1972 it was used in an advertisement for Konica cameras and also by American figure skater Janet Lynn who was repeatedly photographed by Japanese media making the sign during the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo, Hokkaidō.

Beyond “V”

After spending a slightly longer period of time in Greater China, you’ll actually notice there are considerably more commonly used poses for photographs both taken personally (often  taken at a close distance with one hand outstretched) and professionally for modeling clothes or other products. While these are perhaps more broadly “Asian” poses, they undoubtedly have a strong place in Chinese popular culture. A great site which catalogues many of these poses, is the aptly named AsianPoses.com.

Some of the more commonly seen poses you’ll see in Greater China include:

• Fake crying and rubbing of eyes – This emulates anime cartoon characters which will often gently rub their crying eyes with their clenched rotating fists. Usually the cryer will screw up their face or make accompanying sobbing noises. This action is usually used to denote exaggerated (or perhaps sarcastic) sadness or sorrow.
• Everything is OK – Identical to the “OK” sign we use in the West, but usually with the “O” resting on the cheek with the 3 fingers pointing away from the face. This is all too often accompanied by “puffy cheeks” (see below).
• Heart-shaped hands – There’s a few varieties of this, but essentially involves your two thumbs touching each other on one side, with your other fingertips touching their counterparts on your other hand to make a heart shape. Which of these is on the top of bottom usually depends on what’s more comfortable at the time, while  placement of the formed heart is typically pressed up against the body or face or with arms outstretched. Another variation on this is where it is not a heart that is formed, but rather a circle, which may indicate a message of completeness, trust or family.
• Heart-shaped arms – This action is usually performed by 2 people touching opposing hands, i.e. left to right, right to left. They then bend their touching arms into a heart shape and bend to the side to reveal a large heart. They may also use this shape to cast a shadow of a heart shape and take a photo of that. Usually this is carried out by a male-female couple who clearly are very much  in love, although sometimes female friends may also make this gesture. A single person can also create heart-shaped arms by holding them above their head and arching them slightly, although this is less common.
• Gentle adjustment of spectacles – In line with the “geek chic” or “sexy librarian” looks, many Chinese girls will purposefully wear thick-framed glasses (increasingly without any glass in them), whether they need them or not. A common pose when wearing these is to look directly at the camera with the glasses slightly coming off the face, and a couple of fingers being used to prop-up or adjust the frame. This is usually complemented with an “I’m quietly intelligent” closed-mouth smile or a “deer caught in headlights” open-mouth exclamation.
• Self-punch to the face – Poser’s fist is clenched, usually with palm facing outwards, touching their cheek. Exactly what the point of this particular pose is meant to achieve I’m not sure, but it does make you think about punching the person doing the pose. The mouth may be open or again be accompanied with “puffy cheeks”.
• Thumbs up – This gesture, while used casually in the West, is used to excess in Chinese advertising (often accompanied with the spoken English words “Good!” or “Yes!”). Usually a spokesperson (or spokespeople), which may or may not be famous, will be pictured holding the product with their thumb up and a sincere look into the camera indicating their opinion(s) can be trusted. Where this particular pose gets “interesting” (or rather funny), is in the various arm movements that can done to achieve one or two thumbs up. Examples include highly active thumbs-up punching the air, thumbs up fists hitting your opposing shoulder and swinging out to present the thumb, or more slow and sincere rotation of a fist turning it into a thumbs up.
• Puffy cheeks -  Supposedly cute, because it makes the person appear more innocent, this pose involves pursing the lips and filling the mouth with air so as to push the cheeks outwards, making both the face and eyes appear larger and more round. This apparent cuteness may be contradicted by the “sexy” garb worn by the poser. As mentioned above, this facial pose may co-exist with many of the hand gestures mentioned.

Action item: I’d really appreciate any good photos you own of the poses listed above. To contribute your images, please use the “Add images” button beneath the commenting box. By submitting them here you are releasing them under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic licence. Please include your name and, if available, a link to your site or blog which the photo should be attributed to.