Why some Chinese workers are 'lying flat'

Young people in China tired of work - 21st March 2022

Some young workers in China have had enough of working nonstop. A new lifestyle which is called 'lying flat' is becoming very popular.

Lying flat, or 'tang ping' in Chinese, means taking a break from work. The tang ping movement began in the Covid-19 pandemic, when some young people were working even harder.

Tang ping started on a Chinese social media site and it soon spread. Many people like the idea of relaxing properly.

As Covid-19 starts to slow down, tang ping's doing the opposite. On social media, users are saying they don't want to return to the old way of life. They'd like a more gentle lifestyle.

In China, success is often seen as the result of working hard. There's a working culture of '996'. This means people work from 9am till 9 in the evening, for six out of seven days.

In 2021, Chinese authorities said working 996 was illegal. But success is hard and competition's high in China. So 996 working's still common. It's no surprise, perhaps, that some young Chinese people are choosing tang ping.