Amid the Pandemic, Road Trips Have Exploded in Popularity in China
For those of you too busy to check in on the RADII website every day, we’ve got you every Tuesday with a summary of all we got on China’s youth culture from the last week. In this edition:
- Unpredictable lockdowns and a desire for more flexible and unique trips have fueled Chinese youth’s desire to hit the highway for a picture-perfect road trip.
- While most Disney fans love their Duffy and Friends plushies just as they are, others opt for makeovers to change their toys’ facial aesthetics.
- Even though ‘Cyberpunk: Edgerunners’ has yet to be released in China, online chatter indicates the show will find a welcome fanbase if it eventually arrives.
- Double-eyelid surgery was widely discussed in the latest season of the hit Netflix show, sparking debates about beauty standards in Asia.
Intrigued? Keep scrolling, my friend.
Amid the Pandemic, Road Trips Have Exploded in Popularity in China
In the leadup to China’s week-long National Day holiday, running from October 1-7, many people were gearing up to leave city life for a few days of presumably much-needed R&R.
However, following recent Covid-19-induced lockdowns in popular tourist destinations like the tropical island of Hainan and the Tibetan city of Lhasa, more travelers have opted out of air and rail travel to rely on a freer — and more trendy — way of moving around China: road trips.
According to a report released by popular Chinese travel booking site Tuniu, 43% of the people traveling during this year’s National Day holiday have decided to forgo planes and trains and hit the open road.
And while road trips are not entirely new in China, their popularity has unquestionably skyrocketed during the pandemic.
According to Chinese online travel agency Trip.com Group, one of the world’s biggest booking platforms, car rentals in China have seen a 152% uptick in 2022 compared to pre-pandemic figures. Most of this growth is due to holidays as opposed to business trips.
The rising trend of road trips is fueled by social media-savvy and adventurous Chinese youths, with the post-’80s and ’90s crowd accounting for over two-thirds of car rentals on the platform. Aside from beautiful glamping pics, road trips allow for a degree of freedom that’s unimaginable when relying on other forms of transportation — especially during the pandemic.
Party Label DoujinStyle Bridging Gap Between Clubbers and Anime Lovers
Into the Night is a monthly series exploring China’s vibrant nightlife scene and the roster of young people that make parties in the country so damn fun. This month, we introduce Guangzhou-based party label DoujinStyle and their anime-inspired club events.
The atmosphere on the disco ball-lit dance floor gradually heats up as night falls on party label DoujinStyle’s August 19 event at Yistclub in the southern Chinese metropolis of Guangzhou.
Some partygoers stand alone in corners, soaking in the music blasting from the big stereo. Girls in JK uniforms groove to the beats while others sip wine from plastic glasses, headbanging next to the DJ booth.
Electronic beats are interspersed with samples of anime songs and serifs; some combine the voices of virtual singers with the ever-changing dance music; others feature soundtracks from music games famous among the younger generation. Together, this audible amalgamation is better known as ‘Doujin music.’
The term ‘doujin’ refers to people with a shared interest in Japanese ACGN culture (anime, comics, games, and novels). Given that the cultural circle is expanding nowadays, it can also refer to people who create original works about their favorite ACGN brands. In China, many Doujin fandoms call themselves Er Ci Yuan (二次元).
Doujin culture has been popular in China for years. And with a rising wave of artists sprinkling creative Doujin mixtapes across Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and the broader Greater Bay Area region, Doujin music is finding passionate fans in South China.
- Following Ash Dykes’ wild 2019 adventure down the Yangtze River, the 31-year-old explorer is returning to China to tackle a new expedition.
- ByteDance-owned company Pico has launched a new VR headset and is working hard to bolster its library of hot Chinese content.
- Fall vibes are back, so get cozy (or wild!) with some of China’s finest new tunes — from prog rock to rap to old-school rave music and contemporary club bangers.
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