New ‘wall-hanging’ trend sees jobless Chinese youth working 1 day, ‘lying flat’ for 3

In the early hours of the morning, 29-year-old Guo Zihao awoke in a 24-hour billiards hall in Shenzhen, southern China.

For months, such places had served as his makeshift shelter. At his lowest point, he found himself with merely 20 yuan (US$3) left in his pocket.

“That period was more than a financial struggle,” Guo told the SCMP. “Every minute, every second, felt like torture.”

Just a few years earlier, Guo was far removed from the image of a young man living on society’s fringes. Raised in a relatively affluent family in Hunan province, central China, he graduated with a degree in economics and management and once envisioned a predictable path towards success.