xiào​pín​xué​bù

to play the ape

  1. to imitate blindly
    To imitate someone blindly or without considering one's own conditions, resulting in a ridiculous or poor effect; often used in the idiom 东施效颦 dōng​shī​xiào​pín
  2. to imitate others
    To follow or imitate others; often used to describe making unsteady progress or being in the early stages of learning a new skill