Woman with pink nail polish versus wild — and both win

With a fresh coat of pink nail polish and wearing full makeup — including meticulously applied false eyelashes — Yang Chaoqin arrived at rugged Qixing Mountain in early October.

Known for its dramatic karst landscape and array of adventure activities, the area in Zhangjiajie, Hunan province, is a popular destination for hikers.

Yang was about to embrace a wilderness challenge, belying her glamorous appearance. Thirty days later, the 29-year-old engineering graduate would be living in a mountain cave, the skin on her fingers and lips chapped from the autumn chill of the forest.

In one livestream, she swallows a locust whole, turns to the camera and calmly says, "Anything that moves is protein."

Yang, who is also known as "Leng Meiren" (Cold Beauty), was one of the contestants in the Zhangjiajie Qixing Mountain Wilderness Survival Challenge, which has become a sensation on Chinese social media.

"I couldn't believe she was also taking part in the challenge," one of her competitors said. "I was joking that she won't last more than two days."

The challenge started on Oct 9 in the Qixing Mountain area with an initial field of 100 contestants, and it is about to enter its final stage.

Contestants who voluntarily joined the event were allowed to enter the designated forest area wearing only regular clothes and armed with a hatchet. They were challenged to survive in the wilderness like their ancestors did — building shelters, making fires from scratch, and searching for food sources.

The challenge has already attracted a level of attention far beyond organizers' expectations, said Tian Jianbing, general manager of the Zhangjiajie Qixing Mountain Scenic Area.

Its official channels on Douyin, Kuaishou, RedNote and other platforms have gained millions of followers, who tune in every day to check updated videos of their favorite contestants and debate survival strategies.

Videos of the challenge have been dominating discussion trends across all Chinese digital platforms, attracting more than 12 billion total views by Nov 12, Tian said.

While overseas wilderness survival shows like Man vs. Wild and Survivor have achieved global success, the Zhangjiajie Qixing Mountain Challenge has forged its own path, developing a distinctly Chinese interpretation of the genre.

"Epic challenge, amazing contestants! Keep fighting!" said Man vs. Wild's British host Bear Grylls in a comment on the organizers' Douyin channel.