International magazine Esquire has named Yao Chen as the most beautiful woman of the year, barely a month after the celebrated Chinese actress was invited to pose for the prestigious 2016 Pirelli calendar.
But more than her looks, Yao Chen is an activist who uses her huge social media following--77.9 million Weibo followers and counting--to campaign against issues such as China's smog problem, food contamination as well as to advocate for other people's causes.
Known as the star of romantic comedy and action flicks, Yao's influence and voice go far beyond her popular presence. In 2013, she was named U.N. Refugee Agency Goodwill Ambassador, the first from China.
In an article published by U.K.-based The Telegraph, Yao Chen was called as China's answer to Angelina Jolie because of her ability to change the course of people's lives, using her social media influence and with the help of her Weibo followers.
Yao is also one of Time magazine's 100 most powerful people on the planet and ranked 83rd among the world's most influential women by Forbes.
But unlike Jackie Chan, Gong Li and Fan Bing Bing, Yao has never made a Hollywood movie and speaks almost no English, according to the article.
The 34-year-old actress from a small coastal city in southeast China studied at the prestigious Beijing Film Academy.
The article described Yao's beauty as simple, not classically beautiful by Chinese standards, but with great appeal. It said her striking features are her eyebrows, which arch above enormous, almond-shaped eyes. She has a heart-shaped face, tapering to her wide mouth.
"She's certainly not your cookie-cutter leading lady," Alexi Tan, who directed her in "Color Me Love," said. "I think people like her so much because she's always herself. She doesn't put on a persona."
Yao married Cao Yu, a cinematographer, in New Zealand in 2012.