When the sun is out, most of Changsha’s youth escape the overbearing heat, but come nightfall, everyone emerges from their air-conditioned sanctuaries. Restaurants turn sidewalks into dining rooms as collapsible tables stretch as far as the eye can see. McDonald’s and KFC compete for attention in downtown areas, while the new kid on the block, Papa John’s, starts to develop it’s own fan-base.

Fortunately for the myriad mom and pop restaurants, local dishes are still the favorite for Changsha youth. Given the choice between a Big Mac and Kou Wei Xia (a heap of spicy prawns), most youth would choose the latter.

After dinner it’s time to take a stroll down Changsha’s broad walking avenue – Bu Xing Jie. If you’re into athletic apparel, you’ll have an excuse to pop into a shop or two, but most people go there to stroll hand-in-hand with friends or romances.

On weekends, creative and alternative types check Douban for event listings, then head to 4698 Livehouse or the chilled-out Freedom House in hopes of a good live show. Indie and alternative music are most welcomed, while electronic music draws much smaller crowds.

Hordes of other youth take over rooms in KTVs, or get tables at their favorite club (Soho seems to be the most popular). Once in the KTV or club, it’s time to throw down some cash on whiskey. If you are not drinking Chivas, you’re probably not going to have the most attractive girls sitting with you (mind you, most girls here don’t like whiskey). In the club, groups generally keep to themselves. There isn’t much dancing since your typical Chinese club has no dance-floor. Dice games decide who drinks. The more the guys drink, the more they chat up accompanying girls — although talking over the loud Korean electro-pop that’s been on repeat for the last two years can be quite difficult.

Come two or three in the morning, most are in a cab headed home. Still, some refuse to call it a night, but rather, they gather up the pals to go for round 2 of Kou Wei Xia accompanied by a round of Changsha’s local beer: Bai Sha.

Below are some shots I took around Changsha’s downtown. Click to enlarge.

Chandler is a recent university graduate, with dreams of traveling the world and eventually settling down in Japan. His room is littered with tokens past travelers have gifted him: a Canadian flag on his bed, maps in his closet, posters, t-shirts, and framed photos on his desk. During the week I spent at his place, we attended live shows, hung out with China’s old school punks, ate xiao kao with college students, and even went for a late night swim in the Yangtze.

During the day, we would escape Wuhan’s ferocious heat in a local coffee-shop, and talk for hours about everything and nothing. Since CouchSurfing (CS) is a crucial part of my trip, and an indicator of the changing mentality of many Chinese youth, I thought I’d share Chandler’s thoughts on the CS project.

How did you get introduced to couchsurfing?
My friend Linda — a former teacher from Canada living in Wuhan — told me about the concept. I’ve always loved travel and meeting new people, so I immediately joined the community!

Have you met many people since joining CS?
I haven’t yet had the chance to stay with other people, but I’ve hosted quite a few — people I never would have met otherwise. So far I’ve hosted 2 Polish guys, 2 Canadian guys, and you. I’ve also met up with local Wuhan people or travelers for drinks or a CS-organized party. Good times!

So were they all positive experiences?
In different ways, yes. Communicating with the Polish CSers was tough since their Chinese was non-existant, and their English wasn’t very good. But, we got along very well. Body language, spicy food, and beer goes a long way!

On the other hand, there was one surfer who had a hard time coping with the lack of AC in my living room, but when I offered my room with AC, he complained my bed was too hard and that there were too many mosquitos. I guess it’s harder for some people to adjust to more local living standards.

Any crazy stories?
[laughs] Not until you came to stay, but I suppose those stories are for another time!

Do you think CouchSurfing is too foreign of an idea to really catch on in China?
Not necessarily. When I first learned about it, I brought it up to my parents before hosting travelers. They didn’t love the idea, but they accepted it. When I speak to my friends about it, most of them are intrigued by the idea. Many people see it as a way to practice english, and learn about other cultures.

So it can catch on?
Yes, absolutely. Just look how many Chinese join CS every year… [The numbers are indeed growing rapidly. Check out figures here]

Besides foreigners, what kind of people use CS in China?
The travel community in China is growing very quickly. You have leisure travelers as well as more adventurous travelers. Adventurous travelers, like backpackers, seem especially keen on the idea. Many university students are also accepting the idea, since it’s a great way to save some money while making new friends in new places.

There are also people who don’t travel, but use CS to meet people to chat over a drink. In Wuhan and Changsha, you’ll find loads of local students who may not be able to offer a couch, but are very willing to meet new friends.

It seems most local CSers share one trait: curiosity. They’re curious to go to a new place; curious to meet people from different cities or countries.

Future of CS in China?
I think it’s bound to grow in popularity. On the one hand, CS provides a great way to meet foreigners — something many Chinese youth want to do. As we become more confident in ourselves, and our ability to communicate with the internatinonal community, CS provides a great platform for cultural exchange.

On the other hand, all forms of domestic travel are booming. Chinese are exploring their country like never before. Most of us youth dread the idea of traveling in groups — you know, the kind where we all wear the same hat, and follow the person holding a megaphone. We want to escape our studies or  jobs for a couple days, or even take advantage of a vacation to go somewhere new. CS makes it at once more affordable and more interesting.

I’ll be regularly posting articles to enovate while on the road. Check here for more stories, photos, and videos. I’ll also be posting content to my blog thesinoists.com/baronburns, and actively tweeting (@MrBaronBurns)

So what trends are we seeing this summer? One item you are guaranteed to see young Chinese girls adding to their summer accessories is the straw hat. Their ubiquity has been on a slow rise since last summer, where we tracked a few trendiers types already incorporating the piece into the summer outfits and after recent trip to Hangzhou music festival, take my word that this is a must have for eighties/nineties girls this summer.





The straw hat itself is an accessory most readily identified with the 甜美 or ‘sweet girl’ style. Other important components in this style are pale, flowy tops or skirts with floral prints and flowery accessories. While this trend is not particularly ‘standoutish’ or unique it has moved from a hardcore contingent of those who followed Tokyo street style and been appropriated for a more mass and uniquely Chinese style. We see the 90’s generation mixing and matching with other popular accessories of the time, thick rimmed frames, canvas shoes, etc.

From a wider Asian perspective, being that this style is all about emphasizing the softness of being a girl, it’s a well endorsed look throughout Japan, Korea and Taiwan. While its roots lie in Japan, nowadays it’s fragmented into a more distinct style of ‘doll-kei’ and more recently the ‘mori-girl’ or forest girl styles. Of course we know that the Japanese invented ‘kawaii’ but there has definitely been some innovation around Asian in past couple of decades.

"doll-kei" and "mori-style"

In Korea, this author has drunk a few bizarre cups of coffee in ‘sweet girl’ or ‘fairytale’ style cafes. Couples can spend their afternoons lounging around in surroundings full of soft furnishings, lacey curtains with Beatrix Potter style illustrations adorning the walls, whilst cuddling up to oversized Teddy Bears with Pachelbel’s Canon playing over the stereo. Sickly sweet, some might say.

Back in China however, current fashion brands catering to the sweet girl style include Japanese brand Olive des Olives. Of course mix and match pieces can be found in Zara and H&M but the majority of young Chinese are no doubt purchasing from in the cheaper clothing markets – particularly the straw hats. Also Japanese toy brand Monchhichi, despite its frightening appearance, also seems to contribute as a significant handbag/mobile phone accessory to complete the ‘sweet girl’ outfit.

Beyond just the realms of fashion, could this trend evolve into something more? We here at enovate have visited some smaller independent tea and coffee houses opening by young entrepreneurial Chinese people. Following Korea, will we see a rise in cute cafe culture in China?

Although the ‘sweet girl’ style came to my attention through a simple straw hat, its more deeply rooted lifestyle elements tell an interesting story about Asian femininity in general. The very nature of being soft and cute is important in overtly male dominated societies like Japan and Korea, and although the battle of sexes in China has its own nuances, the importance of appearing soft and cute is still a mainstream ideal to finding a partner.

Chinese is a nation of gambling addicts, besides mahjong and various poker games, football gambling has grown significantly in the Chinese market in recent years. It originated in Cantonese-speaking cities such as Guangzhou and Hong Kong. Initially they only gambled on the England Premier League, but providing improvements on broadcast channels, gambling enthusiasts started placing bets on any games that would be shown on TV.

In brief, the gambling process in China starts with overseas gambling companies based in Indonesia, Macau and Singapore. They offer the odds, which are then distributed to the big bookie, the big bookie separates the odds for the smaller bookies, gamblers then communicate with the small bookies to place their bets (see image above). Bookies never gamble, they profit by taking commissions from the winning money. Chinese usually gamble on the score, for example, in the recent Spanish game, Spain beats Honduras by 2:0, the odds the gambling company offered was that Spain would win by 3 goals, but David Villa unfortunately missed the penalty shot on the second half, causing many gambling loss.

Speaking as an avid World Cup gambler, I have noticed that only several of my peers place bets on every game, most of them only bet on ones they have interest or confidence in; but ultimately we all gamble for the same purpose: to stimulate our football watching experience. I’m sure there are others out there who live to gamble, but not us, we are only doing it as an entertainment.

A mutual friend happens to be a small bookie, so all of my friends, including me, place bets through him. One friend has regrettably lost 50,000 RMB, while others are more lucky with their wins, but the World Cup still has a long way to go, so anyone could be the final winner.

Those who forget to place pregame bets just end up casually gambling with friends throughout the game. The betting is simple if your friend supports a different team, but you can also bet on a draw. If your friend supports the same team as you, then you need to bet on the number of winning goals. The prize can be 100-200 RMB in cash, tomorrow’s lunch, or a midnight snack after the game. It doesn’t hurt as much for losers and it’s a more friendly way to gamble.

However, gambling is ultimately precarious, especially if it becomes excessive. So be careful to keep self control, and remember that it is just a game.

World Cup Doctor's Note

Speaking as someone who has played with and against Chinese football players, I know that’s its not skill or knowledge of the game that they lack (although they can be prone to the odd bit of petulance). However, the expectation that China should have a national team, inline with the rapid growth of their economy and overall size of their population, is an argument that is shortsighted.

Rowan Simmons is a long serving British expatriate in China who has dedicated himself to building a culture for football to thrive in China. In his book Bamboo Goalposts he reiterates the idea that the sport must be built from the bottom up. This means, establishing youth leagues and the amateur game which all in turn feed into professional development and at the top of this, a world class National team. I agree with him to a point but this is all based on a very Euro-centric view.





Building a passion for playing football should be first and foremost. Why? This desire to play is something that is in the very roots of most European and South American cultures; the youth in these countries are seemingly born into worlds where football is life and life is football. In a Euro-centric football pyramid structure, where youth football is at the bottom, leading up to development leagues, and finally the professional level, there is no need to build any awareness or instill passion in the youth. It already exists. However in China, this step is actually the first step needed to build a Chinese youth football army. And where does this start? Passionate kids.

In our research we’ve met kids who are passionate about so many things and these passions become all encompassing, even life changing. It can be the reason people move to new cities, meet their husband or wife and start families. When you have people who often strive to dedicate their lives to something; this is when it transcends beyond being a hobby or pastime. Football can be one of these passions。

We talked about photography as a gateway hobby, but is there footballing equivalent? Five-a-side football and in particular its South American counterpart, futsal, has established itself as it’s own sporting entity in Asian countries such as Japan in the past decade.





Futsal, is a smaller, faster and more skill filled mutation of football. The game is played with 5 instead of 11 and the ball is slightly heavier and smaller, to emphasize close control and fast-passing as opposed to long high lobs from end to end. Futsal has its origins in the South American streets but as is often the case with passionate Japanese hobbyist, they have reappropriated and repackaged this activity for more efficient and wholesome consumption. Rooftop futsal stadiums with late night schedules better cater to drab urban environments and have more flexible opening hours for those with unrelenting work schedules.

Furthermore, brands such as Nike have tried to capture the peripheral lifestyle elements of this offshoot sport, giving the sport a more cool street element. Rounding out these lifestyle elements is a further way to help build a sense of culture and identity around the activity and helps ensure more long term commitment. It serves as an initial draw for those maybe put off by more traditional notions of the sport.





Despite very little publicity, China’s national futsal team has already qualified for 3 FIFA world tournaments and the official futsal online community has over 6000 members. The basis for growth is there. This is where brands can do something to really invest and help build a football culture. If they can help bring attention to these fostering activities and sow the seeds to help turn these hobbies into full blown passions then I fully expect football to blossom.

We recently also mentioned how Chinese parents are slowly starting to see merit in letting their children follow their passions to find success. Football player could be one of these careers.

I have faith in Chinese football, now if only brands and the rest of China would.

Since virtually no one in North Korea can afford to fly to South Africa let alone get permission for a visa, the Beijing office of the North Korean sports committee has started recruiting Chinese fans. A group of over 1000 famous Chinese actors, comedians and musicians who have been sent to cheer for China in previous World Cup tournaments will attend the games to support their brother country against soccer powerhouses Brazil and Portugal. The lowest-ranked of the 32 teams, North Korea faces a daunting task to survive the so-called “group of death.” Whether these cheerleaders dubbed “the volunteer army” by western press will be paid by the NK government to attend for expenses outside the tickets remains to be seen.

Group of Death aka Brazil, North Korea, Portugal, and Ivory Coast

If my lunchtime conversations are any barometer, Chinese youth are fairly indifferent about their country’s support of North Korea. The majority express embarrassment about China’s failure to qualify for the games. The fact that even the North Korean team qualified makes this more of a face-losing event. WanWan, 20, doesn’t think any of her friends would support the team because “1) they support European teams, 2) there is no hot football star on the NK team 3) NK is poor and backwards.” Angel, 22, says she doesn’t have time to watch football with between her job and night classes.

While most World Cup discussion focuses on China’s not making it to the games, Japan-raised NK striker Chong Tese has garnered attention on both international news sites and Chinese sporting blogs, which have nicknamed him the Korean Rooney after the English star and even the team’s “nuclear weapon.” Now that’s a pun if I’ve ever heard one. But that’s about all the attention the NK team is getting from pro-bono Chinese fans.

The NK team snubbed its big brother when it dropped the Chinese clothing brand Hongxing Erke for an Italian sportswear company Legea that just paid $4.9 million for the privilege. The Italian brand’s marketing team must hope the hype surrounding the hermit kingdom’s participation will raise the company’s international profile and has promised NK an extra 10 million Euros if the team wins. Something tells me this plan could backfire badly in the press. Lack of information about the North Korean team has created an international media frenzy. You can even buy “I <3 DPRK Football” infant bodysuits for $12.99.

North Korea baby suit

Still, the Chinese don’t seem any more interested in the NK than the Italians, or any other country for that matter.

Many young Chinese were previously unaware of the X Games and the sports involved. Compared to music festivals and other events geared toward young people, the X Games is a very new concept for most Chinese youth.  We noticed a large portion of the attendees were there for the first time, and had never before seen such a massive aggregation of international athletes and musicians all working together.  Many of them, while amazed by the impressive skill and daring of the athletes, were far too nervous, and understandably so, to attempt these sports themselves.  Many people were content to wait in line for up to half an hour to play basketball, something they could do any day of the week, than watch some of the best athletes in the world do ridiculously mind-boggling things.

Furthering the ignorance was the organizers’ failure to successfully market the event.  Even the scalpers had no idea what was going on!  The “Huang Niu” (ticket scalpers) were selling tickets at less than 10% of their face value outside the venue.  Perhaps they thought it was the only way to convince potential attendees to buy them.

Showing a Chao Identity

Since extreme sports is part of the Chinese youth chao (hip, trendy) culture, going to the X Games is a good way of demonstrating how chao one can be, even though one may not be very knowledgeable about any of the activities.  The X Games provide a great opportunity for young Chinese to take pictures of themselves and your friends, all wearing their trendiest gear at a cool sporty event, and later post them Renren, Kaixin, Weibo, and various other blogs, so everyone can see how chao they are.

There were also plenty of meinu (beautiful girls) to be found at the Games, as it can be at most any promotional event geared toward a primarily male audience.  Kia car models, Pony show girls and Mountain Dew girls definitely were a highlight for the male audience.  Observe how Nero tweeted his picture (below) with one of the Kia car models.

Brand Presence

All the brands’ advertising booths shared a black background, but beyond that, they were free to customize.  Mountain Dew, for example, earned lot of traffic with their ball game.

Pony was one of the busiest booths because of their basketball machine as well as their free product give-aways.

This past Saturday, I headed out towards the watermelon farms in rural Daxing district of Beijing for the grand opening of Woodward Beijing. While I missed the attendance of Beijing’s municipal officials and actor Yu Xia to inaugurate this special day, the real action started after all the prototypical Chinese ceremonial ribbon cutting was complete.

Woodward Beijing IS supreme. Situated on a four-star resort property, 410 acres of land is now home to indoor and outdoor ramps and bowls, with a gigantic outdoor skate plaza as the centerpiece. The 32,000 square foot outdoor skate plaza consists of skateable ledges, rails, hubbas, euro gaps, bank-to bank kickers, granite manual pads, steep banks and more. Escape from the sun and head into the 40,000 square foot indoor facility that features two different street courses with rails, banks, hubbas, and pyramids; a multi-level mini ramp; a wooden bowl with a spine and deep end; foam and resi pits; and a giant vert ramp with resi and foam pits attached.

Even if you don’t skateboard, you’d wish you did just by looking at the facilities. I was salivating and wishing it was all covered in snow the whole time (I’m a snowboarder).

While I didn’t see them all, I know I was present among many of the world’s best action sports athletes at the grand opening such as: Tony Hawk, Sandro Dias, Ryan Sheckler, Neal Hendrix, Pierre- Luc Gagnon, Dan Murphy, David Loy, Jaws, Andrew Cannon, Jimmy Carlin, Tom Asta, Chase Hawk, Chase Dehart, Dakota Roche and Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast and “Dancing with the Stars” winner, Shawn Johnson.

What caught my attention (other than Tony Hawk) were the gazes of the local Chinese skaters and audience members of the wicked skating before them (I am sure they didn’t really understand what they were witnessing). Interest in extreme sports has been growing amongst Chinese youth and the arrival of Woodward Beijing will not only stimulate this growth, but provide staying power. Education and training is an essential component to the development of extreme sports in China. Woodward Beijing is the new breeding ground for China’s future X-game competitors. And whether you’re a beginner or semi-pro, it is a space that provides access to skill development and professional training.

Woodward Beijing is the first international property in the U.S. -based Camp Woodward roster. For over forty years, Woodward has been providing premium-training facilities for both young amateurs and professional action sports and gymnastics athletes, including many Olympians. This camp will offer Skateboarding, BMX, Inline, dry land Snowboarding and Free Ski, Urban Dance, Digital Arts (Digital Photography / Video Production and Graphic Design), Music, Chinese and English language programs.

The camp is now OPEN. Check out their website: http://www.woodwardbeijing.cn/

Trendsetter: Gao Ya

Gao Ya is a college student at a Shanghai music engineering university, but is also passionate about acting. Much of her style influences derive from various genres of Rock music, from AC/DC to Beatles. She aspires to become an art director and clothing designer for films.

“Every night I will think about what I should wear the following day. In the morning I generally spend one hour to dress up and make sure my clothing, bag, accessories, hair style all match. I will stay home all day if I don’t know what I want to wear.”
“Lookbook is a major inspiration in terms of my personal style”
“I always pay attention to details… small little things can make our life interesting” (example: Mahjong bracelet below)

Gao Ya's Mahjong Bracelet

Trend Follower: Zhang Yu

Zhang Yu is a 22 year old Shanghai local, who has spent time studying in Australia. We definitely picked up on his strong international influences. As a high-level trend follower, he’s incredibly passionate about the latest fashion developments and is always ahead of the curve. He admitted to religiously changing his style every 3 months or so to keep it fresh.

“After graduating university in Australia, I flew back to Shanghai. My suitcase was 20 kilos over-weight, and it was all clothing!”
“My fashion philosophy can be summed up in three words: Fast, Accurate, and Decisive.
Fast: You have to be faster than others to be a trend follower!
Accurate: You should choose the right style that fits you, not Fei zhu liu!
Decisive: You need to be decisive when you are shopping. Do not hesitate to buy and don’t think about saving money.”

Zhang Yu circa 2008

Zhang Yu's foray into street fashion

Mass Fashion Prescriber: Mei Ling

Mei Ling is a 20 year old college student at Jiaotong University. As a high school student she was more into sports than fashion. Being on the swim team meant short hair and being in shape was more important than following fashion trends. But as is often the case, a college crush led her to start dolling herself up. Unfortunately, her crush went moved overseas, so she has since gone back to a causal – comfortable style.

“My favorites are comfortable t-shirts and jeans”

“To me, fashion trends are too far-removed, I just can’t keep up with them.”

Analyzing fashion trends in China is a complex task. What is one of our methods you ask? Well, let’s first take a look back…

Over a year ago, we created our first street team in Shanghai. Our Shanghai street team consists of three to four Chinese youth college students, selected for their passion and dedication to fashion and research. Their task is to head out into the streets of Shanghai every week and capture both the existing fashion styles as well as the unique voices of the Chinese youth. From this initial endeavor, we have expanded our street teams into the cities of Hangzhou and Chongqing and anticipate future street teams in Guangzhou, Beijing, and Chengdu over the next year.

From our street team’s keen fashion eye and our existing Chinese youth cultural knowledge, we are proud to present our 2010-2011 Chinese Youth Fashion Trends Report. The goal of this report is to inspire designers, creatives, marketers, researchers, or those simply interested in modern Chinese fashion, and create cultural contexts and moods surrounding Chinese youth fashion today.

Another purpose of this report is to leave the reader wanting more. It’s impossible to fit every trend, insight and analysis into a report of this structure, so we sincerely hope those interested in diving deeper into the Chinese youth fashion mindset contact us at info(at)enovatechina.com for business or press related inquiries. Any additional comments can be left in the comment section.

We recommend viewing this report in PDF format. To download this report, please click here for a free PDF.