For decades, China’s expanding middle class had but one option to get ahead:neijuan, or joining the rat race of relentless competition.
Then, a surprising strain of resistance sprouted among the young last year:tangping, lying flat and doing only the minimum to make ends meet.
Now, after a return to gruelling lockdowns under President Xi Jinping’s zeroCovid policy, a third trend has emerged: runxue, the study of how to get out of China for good.
Chinese residents are deeply frustrated as their day-to-day freedoms hinge on the results of mandatory Covid-19 tests, often taken every 48 or 72 hours O Mark Schiefelbein/AP
In late March, as more than 300mn people found themselves under fresh restrictions, searches on Tencent’s WeChat platform for “how to move to Canada” surged almost 3,000 per cent, a study by US think-tank the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) found. In early April, WeChat searches for immigration jumped more than 440 per cent. Relocation consultants in China and abroad say they were also hit by a torrent of phone calls and emails.
The runxue phenomenon highlights that ordinary Chinese are deeply frustrated. Their day-to-day freedoms hinge on the results of mandatory Covid19 tests, often taken every 48 or 72 hours. Their minds are occupied by the immediate risks of strict quarantine in state-run facilities, separated from their families, as well as deeper anxieties over job security and falling household incomes as the economy teeters on the edge of recession.