Editor’s Letter

Life， eh—what’s it all about？ There was a time when many Chinese might have found the question baffling， even bourgeois. For many years， “l(fā)ife” was simply a question of survival. After the ideological zealotry of the Mao era was allowed to pass， people focused on prosperity. In the giddy decades of the reform era， “to get rich” was not only “glorious，” it was a patriotic imperative： GDP growth was the mantra above all. Today， the average person enjoys a level of income unparalleled in Chinese history and， while the instinct to strive is as strong as ever， the possibility of enjoying kongxian （leisure time） has become not only socially acceptable， but actively desirable among the younger generations. This issue， TWOC follows some of these leisurely pursuits， from the reawakening of the hermit spirit， to the rise of the creative class and their effect on the country’s left-behind villages. We also look at the pressures that still exist on many parents， and the price that history has paid for this progress