The millennial mantra of “work hard, play harder” is fading fast in China, replaced by a new Gen Z identity: “rat people.” Across social media platforms like Weibo, RedNote, and Douyin, young adults are proudly showcasing days spent in bed—doom scrolling, snoozing, and ordering takeout—while rejecting the relentless pace of corporate life.
One Douyin creator, @jiawensishi, has become the face of this movement with videos detailing her “domestic rat” routine. In a clip that drew hundreds of thousands of likes, she wakes at midday, scrolls until 3 pm, lounges on the sofa, and returns to bed by 8 pm for an evening of napping and scrolling, Fortune reported. Her satirical portrayal of low-energy living struck a chord with viewers, many claiming her schedule was still too ambitious.
“You’re still too high-energy for me,” the publication quoted a social media user as saying. “I lie on the bed from the time I wake up until I eat, then lie back down. I can live like this for a week without going out.” Others admitted to eating once a day and going several days without washing.
The trend reflects deeper burnout among China’s youth. In 2021, the “lying flat” movement emerged as a backlash against the country’s grueling “996” work culture—9 am to 9 pm, six days a week. Instead of climbing the corporate ladder, many opted for minimal effort and maximum rest.
Now, “rat people” takes that ethos further, embracing a lifestyle of deliberate inertia. While critics see it as apathy, supporters argue it’s a coping mechanism for economic stress and societal pressure.
Unwilling to work or study, Chinese youth pretend to be birds
Last year, another "rebellious" trend among the Chinese youth made headlines as they pretended to be birds on social media. Video platforms, such as TikTok, were flooded with videos of young men and women tucking their bodies into oversized t-shirts, perching on furniture, flapping their "wings" and even chirping, Babelfish Asia reported.
The idea behind "being a bird" is to be free from spending long hours studying or working. Most of the users who followed the trend were either students who are tired of the rat race and are dreading the job market conditions when they graduate or young professionals who are sick of the 996 culture that makes them work for 72 hours a week.
“Youth is but a summer dream,” a user wrote, while another "chirped" a song of his own: "Can't help but turn into a stubborn bird, against the wind to the end." A third user said in the video, "I don't want to work, I want to be free like a bird."
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