A trend among China’s youth of fleeing the rat race and doing the bare minimum has prompted concern in Beijing. But most young Chinese do want to work.

A trend among China’s youth of fleeing the rat race and doing the bare minimum has prompted concern in Beijing. But most young Chinese do want to work.

A trend among China’s youth of fleeing the rat race and doing the bare minimum has prompted concern in Beijing. But most young Chinese do want to work.

A trend among China’s youth of fleeing the rat race and doing the bare minimum, has prompted concern in Beijing. But most young Chinese do want to work.

A trend among China’s youth of fleeing the rat race and doing the bare minimum has prompted concern in Beijing. But most young Chinese do want to work.

Small-time splurging may explain why bargain-hunting tourists are flocking to China’s backpacker haven, nicknamed “Dalifornia”

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Wie carrière in China wil maken, trekt naar een van de zogenoemde ‘eersterangssteden’: Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou of Shenzhen. Maar wie geluk boven geld stelt, kiest voor Dali – een bergstadje in de...

I'm writing to you from Dali, a city in China’s Yunnan province nicknamed “Dalifornia” because of its reputation as a haven for burned-out tech workers, artists, and wanderers looking to disappear for a while. I couldn’t be much further from the spectacle happening in Beijing, where US President Donald Trump was making his first state visit to China since 2017. Here, my DiDi driver softly sings along to old karaoke ballads as we pass rice fields and mist-covered mountains.

On tour with the low-income leisure class

YouTube video by gus1thego

わたしはいま、中国・雲南省の都市「大理（だいり、英語ではDali）」からこの文章を書いている。この街は、一時的に社会から距離を置きたいテック業界の労働者やアーティスト、放浪者たちの避難先として知られ、「Dalifornia（ダリフォルニア）」という愛称でも呼ばれている。

In the ancient city of Dali, I saw firsthand how RedNote has evolved from a lifestyle platform into the tool that powers the country’s tourism industry.