The Chinese dream is hitting a wall, and the country’s Gen Z is looking for answers. As the nation’s economy falters following the Covid-era slowdown, the once-reliable equation of hard work leading to a secure future has collapsed.
In response, a disillusioned generation is turning to 54-year-old anthropologist Biao Xiang, an academic who has become an unlikely 'idol' for youth grappling with high unemployment, toxic work cultures, and the crushing pressure of a state-managed social ladder.
Xiang, who now directs the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Germany, has gained a massive following by addressing the 'pain points' of a society where the government’s 'principal contradiction'—the gap between growing needs and inadequate development—has left millions feeling adrift.
Young people are increasingly rejecting the 'rat race' of the Communist Party’s prescribed path, with viral terms like 'lying flat' and 'involution' highlighting their frustration with intense, low-reward competition.
Xiang attributes much of this anxiety to the state-fueled property bubble and an education system that forces 1.4 billion people into a single, rigid race for success.
While the Chinese government has attempted to suppress negative discourse by censoring data—including halting the publication of youth unemployment figures after they hit 21.3%—the underlying discontent remains.
For a generation raised on the promise of double-digit growth, the current reality of stagnant wages and the 'curse of 35'—a notorious age-based hiring cutoff—has forced a reckoning with the limitations of the current system.
Xiang’s popularity underscores a deeper truth: in a country where individual agency is often stifled by state control, young people are desperate for any framework that helps them navigate a landscape where the old rules of prosperity no longer apply.
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