The term Paparazzi (plural form of paparazzo) is named after a character in the 1960 Fellini film La Dolce Vita. Signor Paparazzo is a photographer who is constantly searching for the next big picture.

Compared to their counterparts in Hollywood and Hong Kong, mainland paparazzi are rather new. The first lot appeared in 2003, when the tabloid Big Star hit the market.

Most of the mainland paparazzi, including Zhuo Wei, started their professional career at Big Star, which is now called Total Entertainment. The three leading Chinese websites have contracts with two or three paparazzi each.