Just how busy are Chinese people? A survey titled 'Satisfaction with Leisure Time among the Middle Class,' conducted nationwide by the Xiao Kang Magazine, the China Comprehensive Well-off Research Center, and the Tsinghua University Media Survey Laboratory, revealed that overwork has become the norm for many professionals. Among the respondents, only 23.7% worked 40 hours or less per week. A striking 76.32% worked more than 40 hours, with 28.8% exceeding 50 hours and 11.8% working more than 60 hours per week. Economist Lang Xianping once calculated that China ranks first in the world in average annual working hours, reaching 2,200 hours. In comparison, the figures are 1,610 hours in the United States, 1,758 hours in Japan, and a global low of 1,389 hours in the Netherlands.
Driven by this busyness, we sacrifice our hobbies and the pleasures of life. The happiness of strolling in the sunset with loved ones and children fades away, leaving life dull and gloomy. As the character Li Xiang, a white-collar worker, lamented in the play 'Gorgeous Office Workers: Life and Survival' directed by Lin Yihua: 'Black Monday. Tuesday is also black, Wednesday is the blackest, Thursday is a bit gray... (body performing frantic movements)... Sigh, it’s Black Monday again!' Many people, like Li Xiang, are weary of this repetitive and exhausting routine. Yet, apart from enduring and complaining, what have we actually done for ourselves? Yang Jianping, a 31-year-old employee at a Shenzhen advertising company earning 9,000 yuan per month, spent three consecutive months without a single day off to meet a deadline for a major client, often working until midnight. 'Our boss promised us huge bonuses and long vacations if we land this client,' Yang said. 'Every time I work myself to the point of collapse, I can only balance my mood by imagining the blue coastlines and golden beaches of the Maldives.' This mindset of 'I must work desperately first, then I can spend money and take vacations freely' reflects the无奈 choice made by many professionals today.
