The Flourishing of Internet Culture
The Internet culture has also achieved considerable development in China and become an important part of contemporary Chinese culture. The development of network culture in China has greatly promoted the economic, political and cultural development of Chinese society and satisfied the cultural needs of Chinese people. Literature online, game online, and music online all present their unprecedented pace and way of developing in this age of Internet.
Network Literature
The changes of ages and the development of the Internet have stimulated the unprecedented liberation of literary forms and the birth of more diverse writing forms, among which network literature has made remarkable achievements.
To be sure, network literature is a market with infinite potential. In 2016, the scale of users of online literature in China has reached 333 million, and the scale of online literature market has reached 12 billion yuan, and it has been growing continuously.
Online Games
Online game industry is an emerging sunrise industry. After the initial formative stage at the end of the 20th century and the rapid development in recent years, the online game industry in China is in the growth stage and fast approaching the mature stage. In the whole process of the development of China’s network economy it has started from scratch to become an important part of China’s network economy. Now traditional game industry merchants have already begun from the console games, PC games, and other areas of the traditional game gradually to expand to the field of mobile games, and try to cooperate with mobile game developers and service providers. All this proved that mobile game market has become the most dynamic one in mobile market. Mobile games are the most popular free/paid apps among mobile Internet users in China. 78.4% of mobile Internet users have played mobile games; and among paying users, 46.9% have purchased mobile games.
The Expansion of Leisure Activities
China’s industry of leisure activities has recently surpassed Japan to become the world’s second largest market after the United States, and there is still a huge space for development. Cruise ships, sports, domestic travel and food dining out/delivery are regarded as the most cost-effective leisure activities. The new middle class in China is mainly composed of the post-80s generation, who were born under the one- child policy and grew up in the era of rapid economic growth and increasingly affluent society. Compared with their elders, they are more willing to spend money and time to enjoy themselves and seek novel experiences. Therefore, they are the main consumers of leisure activities in China
Outbound and Domestic Tourism
In recent years, the number of tourists in China’s domestic tourism market has maintained a steady growth, with the growth rate of more than 10%. In 2017, the number of tourists in domestic tourism market has reached 5 billion. At present, China has stepped into the era of mass tourism, and tourism leisure has become the normal life of the people. In addition, from 2013 to 2017, the total revenue of domestic tourism also increased year by year, among which the total revenue of China’s domestic tourism in 2017 has reached 4.57 trillion yuan. With the continuous increase of tourism users and the improvement of consumer spending power, the tourism industry as a whole presents a thriving trend.
122 million, that is the number of outbound tourists in China in 2016, nearly the whole population of Japan, and it continues to soar in recent years. The increase in income, the upgrading of tourism consumption, the convenience of visas and the increase of flights have all helped Chinese people to “go global”. Chinese tourists are increasingly inclined to choose more convenient, safer, more stable, more hospitable and friendly destinations with better natural and living environment. The purpose of tourists to go abroad also changes from sightseeing to enjoying high-quality living environment and services overseas, including climate, air, prices, housing prices, commodities, medical treatment, education and so on. Outbound tourism has become a standard to measure the happiness of Chinese urban families and young people.
Square Dancing: A Widespread Cultural Phenomenon
If only one type of dancing could be counted as a cultural phenomenon in contemporary China, what would it be? You might blurt out square dancing without thinking. Square dancing, which is also called Chinese fitness dancing, is the largest system in the art of dance, it is named so because many dancers would probably gather in the square. It combines self-entertainment and performance, taking group dance as the main form of performance. Its main purpose is the entertainment of both the body and the mind.
In China, square dancing originated from social life. It is a dance created by the people and exclusively for the people. For thousands of years, square dancing has been developing continuously and has become a unique folk art rooted in the life of the people in China. Actually, the function and place of the square dancing have witnessed great changes since the founding of new China. Especially after the 1990s, the government established many cultural squares in cities above the county level. With the continuous progress and development of society, square culture, as a social and cultural phenomenon, and also square art, as an important form of expression of square culture, have both been more and more concerned by people. Square dancing is quietly changing, from rural to urban square dancing, and has gradually become an indispensable part of urban cultural construction.
It is no exaggeration that square dancing lovers can be seen all over China from morning till night.
