Qing Chenjingliang: China’s “Most Beautiful Fugitive” banned from the Internet for using criminal record for fame

Qing Chenjingliang’s once major online scam ventures she has tried to reshape, but her shady past has caught up with her online presence.

A 26-year-old Sichuan province woman, Qing Chenjingliang, became an unlikely Internet sensation in 2018 when her photo appeared on a police wanted poster that went viral. Chinese media have dubbed her story the nation’s “most beautiful fugitive,” and it seems to have taken another turn—this time with a social media ban.

In 2018, Qing was a part of a group of 10 that scammed their victims with a vengeance through several dialogues pretending to be romance or friendship on the internet. Attempts were made to target unsuspecting victims, posing as bar employees, into spending large amounts of money, coercing, threatening, or forcing some into it. The gang was reported to have bilked the victims of a staggering amount of over 1.4 million yuan (about Rs 1.6 crore).

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Having been expelled from school in her teens, Qing Chenjingliang alleges that she got involved in the scheme because of her then-boyfriend. She spent some months on the run before turning herself in and subsequently got sentenced to one year and two months in prison. While serving her sentence, she was subjected to programs of ideological education, legal knowledge, and labor reform.

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Following her release, Qing Chenjingliang, formerly a fugitive turned restaurateur for bubble tea, wanted to pursue a much-needed fresh start; following along the theme of redemption, Qing participated in a police campaign warning citizens on fraud—a move that stirred up controversy from those who said the campaign glamorized crime merely through her image.

New tweaks to her social media activities came into effect in March 2025, with the new account she now carries under her real name and uses the now-iconic wanted poster photo of 2018. The profile bio says, “I was a headline figure in 2018 news. Now I have turned over a new leaf.” She soon after amassed about 10,000 followers.

Qing livestreamed twice daily, giving deeply personal stories of her days behind bars and offering sincere advice warning viewers about everyday scams, particularly traps commonly found in nightlife. “Don’t trust something that sounds too good to be true,” she used to advise.

She was regularly stressing to viewers that she served her full term and how hardly ever are such cases met with sentence reduction. “It’s not easy to get a lighter punishment,” she would confide in her audience.

However, the road to redemption for Qing encountered a roadblock on April 27 when, suddenly, her account was disabled. All of her videos disappeared, making her profile unsearchable. The platform stated that the decision was made in accordance with the policy forbidding users from exploiting their criminal pasts for fame or profit.