Culture

Culture

Why 'Disenchantment' Is the Word Young China Uses for Growing Up

The question "What did you first stop idealizing after growing up?" sat near the top of Weibo on Saturday, and the answers — family, friendship, elite degrees, prestige jobs, even adulthood itself — sketch a generation talking down its own expectations.

A genre of Chinese short videos showing students abroad sawing rock-hard loaves — framed as proof of hardship — has been debunked by European food bloggers as staged content made with days-old bread. The correction spread across Weibo on August 28, drawing a reckoning with what users call "traffic-first" study-abroad storytelling.

Culture

Mahjong's Second Life: How China's Twenties and Thirties Turned the Family Game into a Chain-Store Business

New industry figures show people in their twenties and thirties now make up nearly 70 percent of China's mahjong players, and one self-service parlor chain has opened 14,000 venues in 38 months. The game once associated with retired grandparents has become young China's affordable night out — and a small-business phenomenon.