A new catchphrase is sweeping China’s social media: The Beauty of the Boom Years.

一个新的流行语正在席卷中国社交媒体：经济上行期的美。

Using apps like RedNote and Douyin, people are reviving memories of the 2000s and the early 2010s with photos of daring outfits, upbeat songs and vintage TV commercials, all of which, in different ways, evoke a time in China that pulsed with optimism.

通过小红书和抖音等应用程序，人们用大胆的着装照片、欢快的歌曲和复古电视广告重温2000年代和2010年代初的记忆，这些元素以不同方式唤醒了那个在中国处处跃动着乐观主义的时代。

“The music back then throbbed with exuberance, brimming with the sense that the future could only get brighter,” a middle-aged man said in a RedNote video. “Today’s lyrics begin with lines like, ‘We’re trying our best to survive.’”

“那时的音乐洋溢着蓬勃活力，充满了未来只会越来越好的感觉，”一位中年男子在小红书的视频中说，“而如今的歌词开头都是‘我们都在努力活着’。”

Others reminisced about fashion. “Twenty years ago when I was in college, I wore camisoles and hot pants,” wrote a female RedNote user under the hashtag #BeautyOfTheBoomYears. “These days, students dress more like nuns, always draped in oversized clothes.”

也有人怀念起过去的时尚。“20年前我上大学时，穿的是吊带衫和热裤。”一名小红书用户在“#经济上行的美”标签下写道。“现在的学生穿得更像修女，总是裹在宽大的衣服里。”

Using the hashtag, Chinese who started their careers two decades ago brag about when they received multiple job offers with generous year-end bonuses. Younger users respond with oohs and aahs, remembering their childhoods, a time when China felt livelier, cozier and full of possibility.

在这个标签下，20年前踏入职场的中国人炫耀自己曾经同时收到多个工作机会，年终奖金丰厚。年轻用户则发出阵阵惊叹，追忆他们的童年时代，那会儿的中国更有活力、更温暖，充满了可能性。

The phrase expresses a longing for an era when China’s economy was roaring ahead and, for many, optimism was almost second nature. It doubles as a commentary on the country’s mood today. It especially speaks to China’s younger generation, who are grappling with an economic slowdown, record youth unemployment and tighter social controls.

这个流行语折射出人们对中国经济高速增长时代的怀念，对很多人来说，那时的乐观几乎是一种本能。它同时也成为当下社会心态的注脚，尤其道出了中国年轻一代的心声——他们正面临着经济放缓、创纪录的青年失业率和愈发严苛的社会管控。

“Perhaps what we miss is not a ‘golden era,’ but the courage to believe the future holds promise,” read an editor’s note on an article headlined, “How Beautiful Was the Boom? Back Then a Job Hop Meant a 30 Percent Raise. Now Civil Service Exams Are the Only Way Up.”

“或许我们怀念的不是某个特定的‘黄金年代’，而是那种‘相信未来可期’的勇气，”《经济上行的美有多野？从前跳槽涨薪30%，现在考公卷成麻花》一文的编者按写道。

Nostalgic hashtags such as #Millennium, #ChineseDreamcore and #BeautyOfTheBoomYears have drawn more than 10 billion views across the Chinese internet, according to the data firm Newrank. On Douyin, the short video platform, the tag #UsingFashionToShowTheBeautyOfTheBoomYears has racked up over 210 million views.

据数据公司新榜统计，“千禧年”、“中式梦核”、“经济上行的美”等怀旧主题标签在中国互联网已获得超百亿次的浏览量。在短视频平台抖音上，“用穿搭演绎经济上行的美”这一标签内容的播放量已突破2.1亿次。

2001年，中国对外贸易经济合作部部长石广生（前排左一）庆祝中国加入世界贸易组织。

China’s boom years are often dated to the country’s entry in the World Trade Organization in 2001. They signified entrepreneurial energy, rising living standards and abundant career opportunities. The mood was captured in the titles of a hit song, “Tomorrow will be better,” and a popular television drama, “Strive.”

中国的经济上行期通常以2001年加入世贸组织为起点。那是一个充满创业活力、生活水平持续提升、职业机遇层出不穷的时代。热门歌曲《明天会更好》和热播电视剧《奋斗》的名字都恰如其分地捕捉了当时的社会氛围。

Optimism wasn’t just aspirational. It felt rational. Many believed that with hard work anyone could become the next Jack Ma, the Alibaba founder.

那种乐观主义不仅是一种憧憬，更像是一种理性判断。当时许多人相信，只要足够努力，谁都可能成为下一个阿里巴巴创始人马云。

Where those years encouraged risk-taking, today’s environment leans toward caution. Civil-service jobs, once considered staid, now dominate the conversations of young people looking for havens in a shrinking job market.

如果说那些年鼓励冒险精神，那么当下的环境则趋向谨慎。曾经被视为乏味的公务员职位如今正主导着年轻人的择业话题，他们希望在日益萎缩的就业市场里谋得一份稳定的职业。

A carousel post on RedNote, another popular social media app, contrasts the two eras. Then, lighthearted romantic comedies and buoyant advertisements. Now, heavier dramas and therapeutic ads mirroring a society weighed down by pressure.

另一款热门社交应用小红书上的一个滑动图文帖对比了两个时代：当年是轻松的浪漫喜剧与欢快的广告，如今则是沉重的电视剧和疗愈系广告，反映出压力重重的社会现实。

Fashion tells the same story. In the 2000s, young women favored camisoles, short shorts and bright red lipstick. Now the prevailing look is oversized and concealing: long skirts, sun visor caps and UV protection hoodies. “It’s as if they’re shielding themselves from a harsher world,” another RedNote post said.

时尚变迁也在讲述着同样的故事。新世纪之初，年轻女性偏爱吊带衫、热裤和正红色口红。如今流行的装扮却是宽松而遮掩的风格：长裙、遮阳帽和防紫外线的防晒帽衫。“仿佛她们正将自己与更严酷的世界隔离开来，”小红书上另一篇帖文写道。

2005年，上海南京路上的购物者。在社交媒体上，中国人将如今低迷的社会氛围与本世纪初的文化氛围进行对比。

The boom-time beauty meme is the latest expression of a Gen Z counterculture born of disillusionment, the recognition that they may be the first generation in half a century unlikely to surpass their parents’ standard of living, no matter how hard they try.

“经济上行期的美”这个网络米姆是Z世代幻灭情绪下最新的反文化表达。他们逐渐意识到，这一代人可能是半个世纪以来首个无论如何努力都难以超越父母辈生活水平的群体。

Over the past five years, this quiet resistance has taken many forms.

过去五年里，这种安静的抵抗以多种形式呈现。

It began with “lying flat,” a refusal to join the rat race. Some chose to pursue the “run philosophy,” or emigrating in search of freedom and brighter prospects. Others declared themselves the “last generation,” vowing not to have children. Still others embraced “let it rot,” giving up on difficult goals rather than battling for uncertain rewards. To show they could care less about career prospects, many took to wearing “gross outfits” at work.

它始于“躺平”，也就是拒绝加入激烈的竞争。一些人选择“润学”，即移民他乡寻求自由与更光明的未来。还有人自称“最后一代”，发誓不生孩子。另一些人则拥抱“摆烂”的态度，放弃艰难的目标，不为不确定的回报苦苦拼搏。为了表明自己毫不在乎职业前景，很多年轻人甚至穿着“恶心穿搭”上班。

Now the focus has turned to celebrating the beauty of the boom years, an implicit criticism of the present.

如今，他们的关注点转向追捧经济上行期的美，这本身就暗含对当下的批评。

Youth discontent worries government everywhere. Last week in Nepal, Gen Z protests over corruption and inequality forced out the country’s prime minister. In China, it was largely college students and young professionals who participated in the White Paper protests of late 2022, helping to end the harsh “zero-Covid” policy.

年轻人的不满情绪令各国政府都感到担忧。上周在尼泊尔，Z世代因腐败和不平等问题举行抗议，迫使总理下台。而在中国，2022年底“白纸运动”的主要参与者是大学生和年轻的上班族，这场抗议推动了严苛的“清零”政策的结束。

Beijing keeps a watchful eye on even the subtlest resistance. In a 2022 editorial, People’s Daily, the Communist Party’s official newspaper, scolded young people for “lying flat.” In 2023, as one in five young Chinese were jobless, the country’s leader, Xi Jinping, called on them to “eat bitterness,” a phrase that means to endure hardships.

北京对即使是最微妙的抵抗也保持着警惕。2022年，共产党党报《人民日报》在一篇社论中责备年轻人的“躺平”心态。2023年，当五分之一的中国年轻人失业时，国家领导人习近平号召他们要学会“吃苦”。

近年来，“躺平”理念在中国的年轻热门群体中广泛流行。

So far authorities seem to have allowed the boom-year nostalgia to circulate online, perhaps happy to instill some optimistic energy into the young generation. But for Gen Z, it’s easier to be nostalgic about the past than upbeat about the present.

到目前为止，当局似乎允许这种对经济上行年代的怀念在网上传播，也许他们乐于给年轻一代注入一些乐观的能量。但对Z世代来说，怀念过去比乐观面对当下要容易得多。

Growing up in a small town in southern province of Guangxi, Wei, now 34, remembers his teenage years as an age of glitter. He carried a phone charm that lit up like a magic wand with every call. “People wanted to shine because they wanted to be seen,” he said. “To be seen meant more opportunities.”

34岁的魏（音）在广西南部的一个小镇长大，他记得自己小时候所处的是一个流光溢彩的年代。他有一个手机挂件，每次来电时它都会像魔杖一样亮起来。“人们想要发光，因为他们想要被看到，”他说。“被看到意味着更多的机会。”

Today Mr. Wei, who asked me to use only his family name for fear of government retribution, works as an engineer in construction. He calls it a “sunset industry,” since China has already overbuilt much of its infrastructure, particularly housing. Single and with no plans for children, he sees little future in the life he once imagined, saying his optimism has disappeared as he has found it harder to speak his mind publicly.

由于担心遭到政府报复，魏要求只使用他的姓氏，如今，他在一家建筑公司担任工程师，他称这是一个“夕阳行业”，因为中国的基础设施——尤其是住房——早已严重过度建设。他单身，没有要孩子的计划，他对自己曾经设想的人生已不抱希望。他说，随着他发现公开表达自己的想法越来越难，他的乐观情绪已经消失了。

Cora, a 25-year-old Beijing native, cherishes childhood memories of chatting with mom-and-pop food stall owners after school in the early 2010s. “They were simply making a living, yet each radiated contentment,” she said.

25岁的北京人科拉珍藏着童年记忆：2010年代初放学后，她会与街头小吃摊主聊天。“他们只是为了谋生，但每个人都洋溢着满足感，”她说。

Those stalls are gone, cleared in what city officials said were campaigns to beautify the streets and drive out the “low-end population.” Places that once carried people’s dreams and livelihoods and sweat and emotions were turned into lawns, she said.

那些小吃摊早已消失无踪，它们在市政府所谓的美化市容、清理“低端人口”行动中遭到取缔。她说，这些曾承载着人们梦想、生计、汗水与情感的地方，最终变成了草坪。

2008年，西安街头的行人。今天的年轻人表示，他们很怀念本世纪初那种更自由、更具表现力的时尚风潮。

Cora, who asked me not to use her surname, emigrated to Canada in 2022, giving up on her dream of working in one of Beijing’s skyscrapers.

科拉要求不要透露她的姓。2022年，她移民加拿大，放弃了在北京的摩天大楼里工作的梦想。

Will Yu, 29, grew up idolizing China’s tech companies. He devoured stories of generous pay packages, overseas retreats and canteen meals prepared by five-star chefs. When he joined a big firm in Shanghai in 2021 as an interactive designer, those kinds of perks had vanished. He worked long hours churning out one sales promotion design after another. He felt he had little hope of advancing in his career.

29岁的威尔·于（音）从小崇拜中国的科技公司。他沉迷于那些高薪、海外度假和五星级大厨掌勺员工餐的故事。当他在2021年入职上海的一家大公司担任交互设计师时，这些福利早已不复存在。他长时间加班，完成一个又一个促销设计。他感到自己在职业发展上几乎没有什么希望。

After two years he quit and moved to Germany. He was struck by how limited China’s social safety net and legal protections were by comparison.

两年后，他辞职去了德国。相较之下，他深感中国的社会保障和法律保护多么有限。

“Our generation mistook growth for progress,” he said. “A healthy society needs fairness, freedom and respect for every individual.”

“我们这一代人把增长误认为是进步，”他说。“一个健康的社会需要公平、自由，以及对每个人的尊重。”

As a gay man, he once believed that money could help overcome social and political constraints, until he witnessed the government’s crackdown on L.G.B.T.Q. community.

作为一名同性恋者，他曾相信金钱可以帮助自己突破社会与政治上的限制，直到亲眼目睹政府对LGBTQ群体的打压。

“Everyone is competing for first-class seats on the Titanic,” Mr. Yu said. “But few stop to ask where exactly the ship is headed.”

“每个人都在争抢泰坦尼克号上的头等舱席位，”于说，“却很少有人停下来问一问，这艘船究竟要驶向何方。”