Shanghai is deserted, Beijing is gloomy “Where Did the Chinese People Go”

Beijing has never been in such a dire state. The once-bustling streets of Sanlitun and Wangfujing are now unrecognizable. Many businesses have closed and the shopping malls are deserted. Shimao Tianjie and Galaxy Soho are extremely gloomy. Many people cannot find work, spending their days waiting for a manual labor job to make ends meet. It's heartbreaking to witness the current living conditions along Beijing's Second Ring Road. Beijing netizens have posted that the city has never been as depressed as it is now. The entire city is highly closed off and severely lacking in vitality. Look, today is the weekend. These restaurants used to have long lines of people waiting to have lunch here. But now, the place is empty, the atmosphere so gloomy and deserted, there's truly no one in the shopping mall. On the 25th, some Weibo netizens posted, I didn't expect Zhongguankun, Beijing, to be so depressed 10 years later. I went to Haidian for an interview today and was struck by how the once-bustling area has vanished. After leaving the subway station, I didn't see many people shopping. Many shops were closed. Carrefour and Shibao Street were gone. I only saw a few snack bars and convenience stores. Netizens responded one after another. Since the Diduan, low-end population, was cleaned up a year ago, the city has gradually become deserted. Beijing is in a depression overall, not just limited to Zhongguankun. I don't know why things are like this now. My impression of Beijing from 10 years ago is nothing like what it is today. On September 25th last year, Li Hua, pseudonym, an insider who often travels between Beijing and other cities in Hebei province, told a reporter that Beijing's economy is indeed depressed at present. For example, Beijing's Wukesong, which is close to West Chang'an Street, used to be quite busy, but since July this year, the number of shops in this area has dropped sharply. According to Li Hua's observation, there are now fewer than 10 foreign-owned supermarkets in Beijing, and most of them have closed. Carrefour's last store in Beijing has been acquired. There are no more Carrefour's in Beijing, and now Walmart is barely holding on. A Beijing resident named Wang Li told reporters that the national economy is currently in a severe recession. Even the capital, Beijing, has become deserted, empty, and lifeless, unlike in previous years. Things are no longer good. Except for civil servants who have some money, people basically have no money. The WeChat public account Pinkadashi published an article titled Beijing has never been as depressed as it is now, describing the current depression in Beijing based on years of working and living in the city. The article mentioned that there used to be no guardrails in Tiananmen Square, and the buildings could be photographed at close range, but now they are all blocked off. Many places in Beijing have been artificially divided, such as schools, which used to symbolize openness. Now Tsinghua University, Peking University, other universities, middle schools, and elementary schools are all inaccessible. The article also cites Sun Litan, a once-famous landmark in Beijing, as an example. In the past, Sun Litan was the fashion center of Beijing and even China, with a variety of restaurants, dinner parties, celebrities, film crews, and beautiful people. But now, it no longer resembles its former self. There is no superficial prosperity. There are more farmers' markets in fifth-tier counties than in Sanlitan. The article also noted that there are obviously fewer foreigners in Beijing now, including fewer white people, black people, and mixed-race West Asians. In the past, Liangmaqiao was practically a concession. Every day a bunch of white people would run around the Liangma River. It was almost like the Seine. Moreover, the streets in Beijing are not very lively right now, especially at night when there are no people around. There are no stalls, sellers, photographers, or street performers. The streets are completely empty. The article pointed out that Beijing's economy was once very strong. The technology sector, which used to symbolize the internet, is no longer viable in Haidian. Finance, located in Xicheng, is now under strict regulation and has lost its vitality. Education, also in Haidian, is said to be the worst-hit industry. Culture, centered in Chaoyang, includes film, television, music, art, and media industries. But Beijing's cultural industry is now moribund. Another area is foreign investment, also in Chaoyang. Foreign investment in Beijing used to be very strong, but everyone knows that the situation has been very bad in recent years, especially investment in Beijing. The article concludes by saying that the job opportunities in technology, education, finance, culture, foreign investment, and tourism, which used to support a large number of ordinary Beijing citizens, are no longer available. With the Chinese economy rapidly declining and in recession, Beijing is gradually falling into a difficult and gloomy period. A layer of smog covers the city. And everywhere, the vitality of dawn is no longer present. Countless restaurants in China have closed down, with some online celebrity restaurants unable to survive for more than a month. China's consumption has downgraded, leading to the closure of over one million restaurants on the mainland. The trend of restaurant store transfers has surged, with some individuals posting transfer information for more than 10 stores a day. Online celebrity restaurants are also becoming increasingly short-lived, with some not lasting beyond a month. Public data shows that 460,000 restaurants closed in the first quarter of this year, and nearly 600,000 closed in the second quarter. As of June 30th, the total number of restaurant closures in the first half of the year was close to 1.06 million. If this trend continues, the total closures by the end of the year are likely to exceed 2 million. According to incomplete statistics, most first-line catering stores saw their performance drop by about 35% in the first half of the year. With the surge in closures, a number of middlemen and platforms specializing in helping caterers transfer and find new locations have emerged. These catering store transfer services offer evaluations, consulting, and brokerage, facilitating transactions between parties, and earning corresponding fees and commissions. According to mainlandhongkong.com, Wei Ji, who has been in the store transfer and search business in Chongqing for 10 years, used to handle beauty salons, health clubs, and convenience stores, but is now more involved in restaurant transfers. Wei Ji's circle of friends includes many cases of signed store transfers, with promotion fees ranging from 3,000 to 30,000 yuan. Ah Hua, who joined a store transfer platform in Guangzhou in March this year, said that his company usually charges one month's rent as commission, with initial promotion fees varying from hundreds to thousands, depending on the strength of the promotion. He posts transfer information daily, sometimes handling more than a dozen restaurants in a single day. In the Kekun area of Haizhou District, Guangzhou, where there is a high flow of people, Ah Hua noted that even during the peak summer season in August, shops are closing one after another. These include stores selling pickled fish, milk tea, and fried skewers, many of which had only opened earlier in the year. Sister Wei mentioned that most of the restaurants she previously handled had been in business for over two years, but now many are closing within a year and are quickly listed for transfer. Ah Hua added that in Guangzhou's Kekun, many restaurants are even willing to transfer for zero yuan to expedite the process. Old Wu, involved in store transfer and search in Guangzhou, reported several cases where customers invested heavily in milk tea brands or snail noodle shops, only to close down after a few months. Another report on HongKong.com indicated that among the restaurants that closed in 2023, online celebrity restaurants accounted for 50 percent, with some lasting less than a month. According to Chao News, while the catering industry faces severe challenges this year, the closure of stores has boosted the second-hand catering equipment recycling market. Even restaurant owners are turning to this market for second-hand equipment. China's stock market continues to fall, impacting the securities industry. China's economy is sluggish, and the stock market continues to plummet. On September 13, the three major stock indexes closed down collectively. Shanghai securities firms Guotai Junan and Haitong Securities recently announced a merger. Analysts believe that, due to the stock market's decline, collapses and mergers in the securities industry may become a trend. The Shanghai Composite Index fell for five consecutive days last week. As of September 13, it barely held above 2,700 points, setting a new low for the period. By the close, the Shanghai Composite Index had fallen by 0.48 percent, the Shenzhen Component Index by 0.88 percent, and the Chinext Index by 1.07 percent. More than 4,000 stocks declined, with the energy metals, batteries, power equipment, photovoltaics, and electronic chemicals sectors leading the fall. Qiu Junrong, a professor of economics at National Central University in Taiwan, stated, China's stock market has been falling. Before the epidemic, it was above 3,000 points, but now it is only above 2,000 points. This decline is likely due to a weak real economy. Both domestic and overseas investors have lost interest and confidence in Chinese stocks. Earlier this month, two leading securities firms in Shanghai, Guotai Junan and Haitong Securities, announced a merger. Qiu Junrong commented, Will there be more securities companies going bankrupt or being acquired in the future? The more pronounced this trend becomes, the more critical the situation in the entire securities market is. He analyzed that the Chinese economy is facing a severe recession. About 60 percent of the Chinese people's wealth is tied up in the real estate market, and 20 percent is in financial assets, including stocks. With the real estate market and stock market both performing poorly, most people are hesitant to spend money. This, combined with ongoing deflation, sluggish consumption, and weak investment, suggests that the situation is likely to persist. This is Huimin Road in Shanghai. It used to be very lively here, but now it is deserted, and the streets are empty. A netizen said, When I went to Shanghai 10 years ago, there were a lot of people, and I had to queue up to cross the road. Now it is really a world of difference I really don't understand. There are very few people in the village, but I didn't expect that there would be so few people in Shanghai. Where did everyone go? Guess what kind of shopping mall this is. There is no one. Except for a few restaurants, it is almost empty. It is so deserted. Recently, on Chinese social platforms, netizens have pointed out that the number of people in shopping malls and on the streets has obviously decreased. It is deserted everywhere. Only in hospitals are there a lot of people, and many crematoriums are crowded. Some netizens said they felt that many people around them had died, including many young people. New wave of epidemics broke out in many places around the Chinese New Year, and many people's families were infected. The CCP media and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention claim that we are still in the seasonal influenza epidemic period. However, many people believe that this is the result of a new wave of coronavirus outbreaks. Mr. Sun, a Beijing resident, told overseas Chinese media, The epidemic has been quite serious recently, with many people catching colds. There are still quite a lot of people wearing masks around. The symptoms include coughing, and recovery is slow. Some people say it is the new coronavirus. One of my classmates died of cardiac arrest without any underlying disease. We suspect it is related to the virus. My mother-in-law also died recently. Mr. Zhang, a resident of Baoding, Hebei, said, The symptoms of a cold now are the same as those after testing positive during the epidemic. When we caught a cold in the past, we had a headache, a slight fever, or a runny nose. Now it's not like that, just body aches. My grandmother just recovered from a cold. But many people died when their colds turned into pneumonia, and the funeral home is very busy now. Dr. Zhang Liang from Jiangsu revealed that many people in their 30s and 40s are now dying suddenly from heart and cerebral infarctions. In fact, this situation has become very common since the outbreak. These individuals are usually in good health, have no underlying diseases, and are strong. The ones we contacted did not have very tiring jobs, and were all employees of government agencies and institutions. Zhang Liang said that young and middle-aged people died without warning. Generally, patients with heart problems die very quickly. We receive many such patients like someone who felt unwell in the hospital lobby, went to the emergency room, and died within a few minutes because heart problems are difficult to control. Because the population base in China is relatively large, even if tens of thousands of people die in a city every year, it does not attract much attention. A set of mortality data for different age groups in China shows that the mortality rates for post-80s and post-90s generations are 5.2% and 3%, respectively. Let's take a look at the current situation of China's largest hospitals. Many people think that the largest hospital in China should be in Shanghai or Beijing, but in fact, it is in Zhengzhou. The first affiliated hospital of Zhengzhou University is not only the largest hospital in China, but also claims to be the largest hospital in Asia. From the following three data points, we can see why it is called the largest. Its daily turnover exceeds 60 million Wen, the number of beds exceeds 10,000, and the number of patients received per day exceeds 40,000. Even such a large hospital is now overcrowded. You will find that some people give everything just to stay alive. If you feel that life is very hard and exhausting, visit a hospital. Only in hospital can you truly experience the sufferings of the world, feel the cruelty of reality, the warmth and coldness of human interactions, and the impermanence of life. You will realize that living a healthy life is more important than anything else. May there be no suffering in the world, and may everyone find happiness. Blogger Strive to Become Excellent took his daughter, Ruirui, to the hospital for treatment. Recently, he posted a video and wrote, The hospital is full of human suffering. The ward is filled with tears and sadness, and the billing list is full of helplessness and panic. Our local hospital clearly has far more patients than before. I spent all my time waiting in line, and my ears were buzzing. I felt like I couldn't hear anything. Facing such an environment for a long time and feeling sorry for my baby, I can only try to adjust my mindset and stay strong. Ajun, a blogger from Pingyang County, Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province, recently took his mother to the hospital for treatment. The video he posted showed that even at midnight, many people were still waiting in line for emergency treatment. He wrote, There were 20 people waiting in line for emergency treatment in the emergency department, and only one doctor was treating them. The hospital also had to assess the situation on site and handle cases urgently. A netizen from Qingdao, Shandong, said that the crematorium worked overtime during the Chinese New Year. She went to attend the 100th day memorial of her mother's passing, but there were so many people that she couldn't even get inside. Mainland media commentator Zeng Jieming said that the cremation queues seen in many places during the three years of the pandemic have reappeared since the end of last year. He mentioned that the cost of cremation has risen sharply. Now, many provinces have turned a blind eye to burials because the epidemic is severe, and there are not enough cremators. I received a message that all statistical data from domestic funeral homes and crematoriums are strictly prohibited from being disclosed. Otherwise, they will be vetoed. If an employee leaks information, they will be fired, and if it is a leader, they will be dismissed on the spot. This strict order has now been issued, and the number of cremated bodies must be kept strictly confidential. The funeral home is completely blocked by cars. Everywhere you look, there are vehicles, all for burials. In recent years, experts from prestigious universities, senior administrative officials, corporate executives, young and middle-aged police officers, and many others have passed away due to illness. Many of them have been posthumously recognized as outstanding party members. I am at the Jiazui World Financial Center on Shanghai Road. At noon, the entire street is empty. Where are the white-collar workers? Where are the beautiful women? This is the headquarters of all major banks, as well as various securities and financial center buildings. There should be many white-collar workers here. Where have they all gone? After walking around, I couldn't even find a restaurant or a food court. I can't even find a place to eat. Is this still Shanghai, which generates more than 5 trillion yuan in GDP annually? It's really strange. Where are the people? There aren't even as many people here as in my hometown. Such a big supermarket, yet not even a shadow of a person. Where did everyone go? Hello, everyone. I am Ming from Guangdong. I am now in a supermarket in Tianhe District, Guangzhou. This supermarket used to be very famous in our community. I still remember that during Chinese New Year and other festivals, it was crowded with people. But now, as you can see from this video, some sections have closed down, some have been transferred, and it is eerily silent, without a single person. Just 3 years ago, before the epidemic, this supermarket was booming and even opened several small branches. But now, likely due to the epidemic and changing consumption habits, those branches have started closing. Now, only this big supermarket remains, and it may not last long because there's no foot traffic here at all. The rent must be expensive since the supermarket is very large, with a total of 4 floors, each covering several thousand square meters. Let me show you the current state of Shanghai's real economy. Sisters, this is Qilu Road in Shanghai. It was once difficult to find a shop here, but now no one is interested, shops across the entire market are being transferred, and there's no rent. You just need to cover the property fee, yet still, no one is renting. The occupancy rate of the entire market does not exceed 10%. Our live broadcast room is on the second floor. I rented a large venue, 100 square meters, for only 20,000 yuan a year. So how can physical stores survive now? Look, it's empty and quiet. Although there are some businesses in this market and a few stores remain open, there are still no customers. The real economy has been squeezed this much. Why? We don't understand. We are busy every day feeling like we are running a business, yet it's like riding a roller coaster, sometimes good, sometimes bad. But look at this situation. There is no one anywhere. The rental market in Beijing has completely collapsed. Renting out a house has become extremely difficult. As a landlord, I have never been so humble. Tenants' attitudes are especially arrogant. In the past, if you didn't like a tenant, you could ask them to move out. But now, if they are unhappy, they simply won't renew the lease. And finding a new tenant is difficult, so you have no choice but to coax and beg them.