People online in China who assumed the hugely popular 2021 TikTok meme, Jiafei, was an artificial intelligence fake have been astonished to learn the iconic profile belongs to a real person.

On Oct 16, a model from Beijing, surnamed Dai, said the meme was one of three selfies she took three years ago on the balcony of her home in Sanya in southern China’s island province of Hainan.

She said a large number of TikTok accounts stole the photo after she posted the selfie, fuelling its popularity on the short video app.

Dai said she did not know her photo had gone viral until June when a friend told her the meme looked like her.

Dai posted a video on Douyin, the mainland version of TikTok, under the account name @Daidairebuqi, saying she was shocked to discover her photo had become a global phenomenon.

The hashtag #jiafei has attracted 610 million views on TikTok, and her image has been used on posters and flags to decorate walls and windows.

Her face was also superimposed on a remixed version of the Ariana Grande song, Focus, which received 44,000 views on YouTube.

The Jiafei photo was widely believed to be a digitally remastered combination of Meng Jia and Wang Feifei, the two Chinese members of the K-pop girl group Miss A.

The name Jiafei also hints at the combination. Many people online also believed Jiafei to be a virtual human generated by artificial intelligence.

According to Know Your Memes, a website that documents the origins of such things, Jiafei’s face went viral after several Chinese bot accounts used it as their profile photo to sell household products on TikTok.

The advertisements were famously absurd, with one trying to promote a beauty mask by comparing it to a peeled piece of watermelon.

TikTok quickly removed most of the original accounts, but parody videos used the Jiafei photo and combined it with the background song Ye Hua Xiang, which translates to “Fragrance of Wildflower”.

The videos turned the tune into one of the most popular songs in China.

Fans were thrilled to learn that Jiafei is real, and many posted comments on Dai’s post congratulating her on becoming an overnight international star.

Dai told the mainland media outlet Shangyou News on Oct 24 that she was bemused at her selfie’s popularity, adding that she is considering turning it into a business opportunity

 - SCMP