„Today's challenge: spend a whole day in Shanghai with only ten yuan for food,” says one influencer in a video on Chinese online network Xiaohongshu . Ten yuan equals about 1.30 euros.
Ten cents goes to breakfast – four small vegetarian meatballs. He prepares his own lunch, and he bought the necessary vegetables at the market for 80 cents. However, there is almost no money left for dinner. In a restaurant, he only takes a bowl of boiled vegetables and adds to it the rice left over from lunch.
Videos showing extreme attempts to save have been watched by millions of people online and clearly strike a chord in the souls of young Chinese, writes German public media ARD.
After the end of the coronavirus pandemic, the Chinese economy is recovering too slowly. Domestic consumption is weak, people prefer to save instead of shopping, the media explained. “Economic growth has slowed down, and there is a lack of jobs for young people,” says 34-year-old Bi Ang from Shanghai. China's youth unemployment is high – according to official data, it is close to 18%, but in reality it is probably much higher.
They cook for themselves, they don't go to restaurants
Bee Ang has been living much more frugally lately than years ago. “For 2 years, I usually eat modestly at home instead of going to a restaurant or ordering food by courier. Also, I keep an eye on the internet for all the discounts and promotions that the stores are doing, and there are restaurants that offer menus for 10 yuan each”.
More and more young people are visiting public kitchens, such as those in Shanghai. These are restaurants that receive a subsidy from the state and offer food at affordable prices. For two years, the number of these establishments has been growing, and many people also order takeaway food there.
Many Chinese are already saving on both clothes and food, adds a young woman. She used to give 10 euros for a lunch, but now she limits herself to half of that amount, because she is increasingly doing the math when shopping – for coffee, for example, she goes to the cheaper shops, because she has seen that she doesn't necessarily need to go to the most expensive place.
„The economy is in bad shape“
Rents have also shot up, especially in big cities like Shanghai. Many dream of living in the metropolis of millions. 21-year-old Wang Zhi, who recently graduated in architecture, moved there but could not find work as an architect. And he is not the only one with this problem, notes ARD. Nearly 12 million graduates leave universities every year, but remain out of the labor market due to a lack of jobs.
The young man told the German media that he first applied for a job as a waiter in a restaurant and as a salesman, but without success. Now he worked as a basketball coach and earned just over 500 euros a month – however, from this money he also has to pay the expensive rent in Shanghai, which is why he has to save on food.
Promotions of goods on the Internet, as well as in supermarkets, are very popular among young Chinese. In one discounter, for example, there are ready-made foods that are offered at reduced prices from 3 o'clock in the morning onwards.
„The reduced prices are for expired goods, but we are sure that they can still be consumed without risk to health. That's why we buy them”, says a 30-year-old man and head of a family. “The economy is in a bad state now, I am already married, I have a child, and the second one is on the way, so I am very careful about what I spend my money on,”, he told ARD.