Everyone’s talking about Dear You — But we can’t stop looking at breakout star Li Sitong’s glowing skin

While Dear You has been making headlines for its emotional storytelling, one of its breakout stars, 22-year-old Li Sitong, is quietly winning over audiences with her fresh-faced beauty.

The Teochew-dialect film tells the story of qiaopi — the letters and remittances exchanged between overseas Chinese migrants and their families back home. A poignant tapestry of migration, memory and intergenerational belonging, the modestly budgeted production has become an unlikely box office phenomenon. Since its release on April 30, Dear You has grossed more than 1.7 billion yuan (US$252 million) in China, while closer to home, all additional Singapore screenings in the film’s original Teochew audio sold out in under two hours after tickets went on sale on June 22.

The movie’s success has also catapulted its cast — including Li Sitong, Wang Yantong, Wu Shaoqing, Zheng Runqi and Wang Xiaohui — into the spotlight. Among them, Li has emerged as one of the film’s biggest revelations. Despite having no formal acting training and making her acting debut in Dear You, the Guangdong native delivered a deeply moving performance as Xie Nanzhi, even poring over historical documents to better understand the era depicted in the film.

Off-screen, Li embodies the same understated charm that has endeared her to audiences. At the film’s gala premiere at Sands Theatre on June 17, she arrived alongside director Lan Hongchun and co-star Wang Yantong dressed in a coordinated green tee and blue denim ensemble.

Eschewing heavy glamour, Li wore her hair in a soft half-up, half-down style and appeared with minimal makeup, letting her naturally radiant, dewy complexion take centre stage.