What I Learned in ‘Dalifornia,’ China’s Laid-Back Capital of Doing Nothing

DALI, China—I could see why they call this place “Dalifornia.” A bookstore and cafe in Dali.Mountains surround a charming town next to a lake so big its Chinese name is “ear-shaped sea.” The weather is mild year-round. It is no wonder Dali became known in recent years as the place where young Chinese people go to escape the rat race and tangping—which means “lie flat” and refers to giving up on work or generally doing the bare minimum.

I came to Dali in southern China’s Yunnan province to try to understand the disillusionment among young people in the country. What I found was that many of these drifters were tired of doing nothing. They wanted to get back to work.

“It’s too easy and comfortable in Dali. I’m very afraid that if I stay here, I’ll just keep being lazy like this, ‘lying flat,’ ” said Raye Wang, a 26-year-old from the western city of Chongqing, who hadn’t had a full-time job in three years.

“I’ve just reached this age where I feel I absolutely must do something. I need to work. I’ve had enough rest.” Wang said she previously worked in video production and has supported herself with some part-time work. She said she was thinking of learning a trade such as tattooing.

China’s urban jobless rate among 16-to-24-year-olds, excluding students, stands at about 18%. The rate is roughly 7% for the 25-to-29 age group, above the overall unemployment rate of around 5%. Earlier this year, the country’s intelligence agency warned against “lying flat,” saying that “foreign anti-China hostile forces” were luring young people into lives of idleness.

Some hiring managers in China told me the attitude of young job seekers is at fault, describing them as lazy, picky and weak. Some might be. But the jobless numbers suggest there is a bigger economic problem. At a community event at a co-living space on the outskirts of Dali’s old town, I met people trying to figure out their next steps.

A couple in their late 20s, both jobless after being laid off. A recent college graduate with an engineering degree who hadn’t yet secured a full-time job. A young man who had started a small e-commerce company that went out of business.

Even some who had enjoyed a break in Dali were eager to find a job. I met Zhang Chengxi, 29, at a noodle shop. She had previously been a content creator and livestreamer selling clothing online, but it got harder to make money as consumer spending weakened.

She came to Dali to rest, living off savings and support from her parents. After about half a year of biking around Erhai Lake, going to coffee shops and not doing much else, she wanted to go to Shenzhen, a tech hub next to Hong Kong.

She was eager to work—and her parents were getting antsy—but she hadn’t been able to find a job there. “I’ve gotten used to ‘lying flat,’ so I want to change my environment,” she said. “I’m not quite sure what I should do.” You Meng, 31, came to Dali in 2021 from Beijing, where she previously worked as a talent manager.

She opened a vintage store, which had few customers, and otherwise hadn’t had a full-time job since. When I met her, she was thinking about moving back to a big city, such as Beijing or Shanghai. She said she wanted to work in the short-form video industry, but filmmakers were increasingly using artificial intelligence to generate microdramas.

“If you ‘lie flat’ for too long, you lose your motivation and drive to work,” she said. “It can lead to a state of emptiness.” I noticed a mismatch between the jobs that are available and the ones young people want. In Guangdong province, I have met factory bosses who say it is difficult to fill manufacturing jobs, even relatively high-paying engineering roles.

Meanwhile, nearly 13 million people graduated from college in China this year. Even leading companies are carrying out layoffs, and AI could reduce the need for entry-level white-collar workers. The government says it is promoting employment by offering vocational training, subsidizing companies that hire recent college graduates and developing new jobs for the AI era.

People I spoke with lamented a childhood filled with academic stress: cram school tutoring, studying well into the night and China’s make-or-break gaokao university entrance examination. Most were the only child in their family owing to China’s one-child policy, adding to the pressure from parents.