Jiang Fuchun, owner of a cosplay photo studio in Shanghai, brings anime and video game characters to life with her intricate creations.[Photo provided to China Daily]

Four years ago, Jiang Fuchun rarely wore makeup. Today, in her Shanghai photo studio, she stands beside a vintage piano in a pink wig and Rococo-style dress, her eyes framed by glittering makeup and layers of lace cascading from her skirt.

The look is inspired by Identity V, a popular game by China's NetEase Games — one of many anime and video game characters Jiang has learned to recreate since stepping into the world of cosplay.

Jiang, 49, is the owner of Mofa Riji, or Magical Diary, a cosplay-themed photo studio. Over the past four years, the studio has attracted an online following of nearly 1.1 million.

Her transformation began with a simple request from her daughter.

"At the end of 2021, my daughter had just started middle school and was going through some emotional struggles," Jiang recalled.

The teenager showed little interest in many things but was drawn to fashion inspired by ACG (anime, comics, and games) culture. Then, one day, her daughter brought up an idea that would change the family's course: opening a photo studio devoted to cosplay.

"I just wanted to support her," Jiang said. "At that time, her happiness was the most important thing for our family."

After discussing it with her husband, Jiang decided to give it a try. With a background in IT and later experience in insurance sales, she admitted she knew little about cosplay at the time. But her daughter, then 14, helped choose locations, design interiors, source props, and plan nearly every photo shoot.

"She understood this world much better than I did," Jiang said. "I was just trying to keep up with her ideas."

What began as a family project gradually opened a new stage for Jiang herself. Mofa Riji has since expanded from a single space in Shanghai to a second location in Chengdu, Sichuan province. It has welcomed nearly 30,000 visitors, about 80 percent of them under 30, with middle school students forming the largest group.