Meaning:

    “颜” means “face,” “性” means “sex,” and “恋” means “romantic relationship.” Contrary to homosexual (同性恋) and heterosexual (异性恋), this term coined by Chinese netizens refers to the situation where a person is not strictly straight or homosexual, but is ready to fall for either sex as long as the potential love interest is pretty. A hot topic on Chinese social media Weibo, this term looks more like a joke to anyone who is serious about relationships. You can be bisexual but that cannot be decided by a pretty face, can it? To be reasonable, this term is a joking way to say that some people are obssessed with pretty faces.

    Example:

    A: 刚刚电梯里那个美女真迷人，我几乎想搭讪了。

    Gānggāng diàntī lǐ nàgè měinǚ zhēn mírén, wǒ jīhū xiǎng dāshàn le。

    The girl we met in the elevator is so cute that I almost wanted to ask for her number.

    B: 你不是喜欢帅哥吗，怎么还喜欢美女？

    Nǐ bùshì xǐhuān shuàigē ma, zěnme hái xǐhuān měinǚ?

    Don’t you like handsome guys? When did you become attracted to pretty girls?

    A: 我发现我是颜性恋啊。

    Wǒ fāxiàn wǒ shì yánxìngliàn a。

    I’ve found that my sexual orientation is decided by how pretty one is.