Meaning:
“塑料” means “plastic,” and “姐妹花” means “a pair of pretty sisters.” This term originated from a joke popular on Sina Weibo, a Twitter-like social media platform, which said, “The feelings good sisters have for each other are like plastic flowers, not genuine but lasting forever.” Coined by Chinese netizens, this term refers to women (especially in show biz) who claim to be BFFs, hang out together a lot, but do not act in the true interest of each other.
Example:
A: 丽丽怎么回事？小花的生日会她居然不来。
Lìlì zěnme huí shì? Xiǎohuā de shēngrì huì tā jūrán bù lái。
What’s up with Li Li? She didn’t show up at Xiao Hua’s birthday party.
B: 她俩是塑料姐妹花，不是真心朋友。
Tāliǎ shì sùliào jiěmèi huā, bù shì zhēnxīn péngyǒu。
They just pretend to be BFFs, but they are not.
(First editor: Debra Li)