Hell on Earth China s Economy Regresses 30 Years Millions Starve as 0 50 Lunch Boxes Are Rushed

Lunchboxes, lunchboxes, 4 yuan each. 4 yuan for a 4-dish meal? Give me one that's perfect. In April 2026, a vlogger excitedly buys a lunchbox for 4 yuan. It's steaming hot rice with 4 dishes, a mix of meat and vegetables, looking like a hearty meal. As soon as the video went viral, it immediately caught the attention of netizens. Some commented with a sigh. There's a lot of helplessness behind this. Others sarcastically said, Extreme low consumption has spread to all corners of society. 4 yuan for a meal. And this is in Guangzhou, a first-tier city, a global first-tier city. Which other country in the world is as happy and fortunate as we are? Look, I'm not saying this for views. In my private group, every day I praise our country for being so ahead in this regard. Our country is really powerful. I'm going to order one. These low-priced lunchboxes are no longer unique to Guangzhou. They've quietly spread across the country. From the alleyways of Anhui to breakfast stalls in Wuhan. From the mountain corners of Chongqing to the urban villages in Hangzhou. Even to border towns in Yunnan. Lunchbox stalls selling meals for 5 or 6 yuan are everywhere. Some vendors even shout, 3 yuan for a meal, all you can eat. And others boldly display signs offering meals for just 1 yuan. People lining up for food seemed to bring us back into the 1990s when food was cheap and a meal could cost just a few yuan. But now, it's 2026, with inflation and rising raw material costs, which should have pushed meal prices up. So why are they still this cheap? Harbin's 4 yuan lunchboxes are all sold out. If you don't have 5 yuan in your city. The 4 yuan lunchboxes in Harbin are selling out everywhere. If there aren't any 4 or 5 yuan lunchboxes in your city, you should start one. I think it'll be a hit. What does this prove? This consumption is downgrading. I think in today's social environment, it's highly likely to go viral. The lunchbox on the tricycle. Hey, how much is this box? 5 yuan. Give me one. What kind of side dishes do you want? With all this rice, how many dishes do you get for 5 yuan? 4. How many dishes? 4. Then just serve me whatever. Isn't this 4 yuan lunchbox from Shuangchen amazing? Hey, how much is your lunchbox? I have options for 4 yuan and 6 yuan. Give me the 4 yuan then. If in one place, food is so ridiculously cheap, it's not a good thing. Just think about what this 4 yuan lunchbox really means. Have you ever had a 5 yuan lunchbox in Beijing? On the side of the road in Maijia Bridge, these fast food carts are everywhere. Before the cart even stops, many people rush over to buy. There are many restaurants around here, big and small, selling lunchboxes for 15 yuan. But people won't go inside to buy. This 5 yuan lunchbox is a must for these workers, but not their first choice. The 5 yuan lunchbox in Shuangcheng Harbin. Six vegetarian dishes for 5 yuan. The man selling the box lunch is very busy. Can it fill you up? Yes, it can fill me up. It actually tastes pretty good. The taxi driver nearby are eating sitting on the backs of their cars. Look, these people are eating lunchboxes, and soon they'll be sold out. Are you live streaming? Yeah, the 5 yuan lunchbox from Shuangcheng Harbin. Sisters, let me show you how tough street vending is. It's windy and raining, and with this heavy rain, I can't go home. And there's still so much left unsold. Sadly, I'm telling everyone that yesterday was my last day of vending. I've been at it for 30 days. I feel a bit reluctant, because I think if I had kept going a little longer, when the weather got warmer, I could have sold better. If I don't count my labor costs, I've actually lost about 5 or 4 or 5,000 yuan. But I think life is just an experience. This is the last time we're serving lunchboxes, with hot dishes and hot rice. The price of lunchboxes sold on the train reverted to 30 years ago. There's even an egg, vegetables, and meat. Can you believe this is being served on a train? Just 10 yuan. A major figure in China's restaurant industry said at a conference that Nowadays, if you're in the restaurant business in China, you have to cater to the lowest-end consumers. I think the level of consumption has returned to 2006. I feel like consumption levels are changing month by month, and they might even go backwards. The economy will continue to shrink, and we can clearly feel the downgrade in consumption. Domestic demand isn't being driven. Wow. You used to say that when there's a traffic jam in Dongguan, the world's supply chain would be disrupted. The entire world would be blocked. Now, if you go to Dongguan, where are the trucks? There are no trucks. And foreigners in Europe and America have gotten used to it. Slowly, without your supply chain, our factories were called the world's factories, made for the whole world. Just like our restaurant was made for Shenzhen. But now, without external demand, it's just our employees coming to eat. That's like looking for trouble. Now, as the world's factory, if it's for domestic demand, it's like opening a restaurant just for employees. With the current economic situation, I think we've gone back 10 years. But 10 years ago, we were full of ambition and hope. Now, the ambition and hope is gone. It's all downhill. Now, even 5 Yuan lunchboxes are available. What level of consumption is this 5 Yuan lunchbox representing? It's the consumption level from 20 years ago. 2006. With consumption downgrade, even vegetables and fruits aren't selling. On April 19th, news went viral online about garlic scape prices plummeting. Farmers dumping over 1,000 pounds of garlic scaps into the trash. And garlic scaps not even being accepted for free. An oversupply of crops and cheap produce hurting farmers has become a vicious cycle, leaving them in misery. See this? All thrown away. It can't be sold in big cities, and we can't sell it here. So it all ends up in the trash. 0.2 Yuan, 0.3 Yuan per pound. What's the point? China's economy continues to decline with stagnant incomes. To survive, people are forced to lower their costs drastically. But why are vegetables in supermarkets getting more expensive while farmers can't get a good price? The price of grain is so low, it hurts the farmers. In logistics, wholesale, and retail, every link is squeezing profits. And all that's left for farmers is their hard-earned money, wasted. In recent years, China's economy has faced multiple pressures. Slowing exports, weak investment, mass foreign company withdrawals, shrinking manufacturing, and massive job losses. Unemployed, homeless young people are sleeping on the streets. On the steps next to stores in Shenzhen in plazas and parks, homeless people can be seen everywhere. Among them are engineers, construction workers, and delivery riders. They run around looking for work during the day, and at night, they have no choice but to sleep on the streets. To cut costs, some of them survive on instant noodles. And when thirsty, they drink tap water. On April 17th in Wuhan, a netizen interviewed a job seeker who had spent the night under a bridge. He said, I've been in Wuhan for a month, visited over 10 factories, had physical exams and blood tests seven or eight times. Each time cost over 100 yuan. The exam fees have ended up to 700 or 800 yuan. Accommodation cost 1,500 yuan, and round-trip transportation also cost several hundred. Now I only have 3 yuan left. I spent 1.5 yuan to rent a shared bike to get here. I was planning to go home, but I can't afford the fare, so I'll just sleep under this bridge for the night. Seeing this, the vlogger couldn't bear it and offered to pay for a hotel for him. In China, this is a common situation. Intermediary companies earn money from physical examination fees. The most frustrating thing isn't that he only has 3 yuan left, it's that the entire job search process treats the lower class as something to be reportedly exploited. Factories are always shouting about needing workers, but first, they make job seekers pay for rounds of health exams. This isn't recruitment, it's the selection and humiliation of the poor. A netizen lamented, hell on earth, the CCP doesn't provide any social security for the people of China. One vlogger posted a video saying, Who can understand that after 4 years of college, I'm just delivering food? It's so frustrating. In the video, a man rides his delivery bike, crying loudly in the rain. Graduating from college means unemployment. Some young people chose to lie flat or turn to flexible employment. But this is just a temporary solution that can't cover up the deep sense of despair. I haven't had a single meal today. I've been looking for work all day, but couldn't find anything. Now it's almost dark, and I have no place to sleep. I have no money. What should I do guys? You're sitting comfortably, putting on lipstick, staying in the office, and that one position has 100,000 people competing for it. Brothers, when you're young, you should enjoy life. Don't study too hard, or you'll end up like me. I'm a Peking University undergraduate who got in through the college entrance exam. But in the end, I had no choice but to deliver food. My mom sold goods on the street to put me through college. After graduating, I ended up selling ice cream on the street. Honestly, it's a bit heartbreaking to say it out loud. It's so tough finding a job. It's so hard. Nowadays, college students looking for a job is because they don't have a job. It's basically hellishly difficult. I'm a 2025 graduate, and even now, I still haven't found a job. I'm basically unemployed. Is it even worth going to college these days? After spending more than 10 years studying and spending a huge amount of money, I graduated and still can't find a job. Where did you graduate from? Tsinghua. So, how do you feel about graduates from elite 985 universities still not being able to find a job? First, let me say, not just 985. I know many Tsinghua graduates around me who say they can't find a job. I'm from Tianjin University, a logistics major. We have a lot of people with degrees at our station. But honestly, I feel like education isn't that important. The main thing is making money. Money is so hard to earn now. Degrees don't matter. Now, there are so many college graduates struggling to find a job. Finding a job has been really hard recently. I'm telling you, a lot of classmates are looking for jobs and can't find anything. Peking University graduates are unemployed right after graduation. You get some award or certification, but in this economic environment, it really doesn't help. It's completely useless. Unemployment directly leads to a decrease in quality of life and brings huge pressure from mortgages, car loans, and daily expenses, bringing on anxiety and a sense of powerlessness. In early January this year, I lost my job and received 18,000 yuan in compensation. Then in mid-January, there was a family tragedy. My father passed away. By early February, my partner also lost his job and received 15,000 yuan in compensation. I really feel like I can't go on. Today marks the 85th day of unemployment. It's another day of job hunting, but I still haven't found a suitable job. I wonder why it's so hard for middle-aged people to find work. It's already 2026, and I still don't understand why finding a job is so difficult. It's raining outside, and I suddenly feel really sad. I got laid off the day before yesterday at 45 years old. I feel really terrible. Last night after midnight, I came home and my wife asked me why I used the credit card again when the previous balance wasn't paid off. I told her I lost my job and I might not be able to pay the mortgage. I'm the head of the household. I should be the one supporting the family. Now my youth is gone, my career is gone, and my family might also be gone. I just want to live a good life, but why is it so hard? Since China's economic reform and opening up and its joining of the World Trade Organization in 2001, the country has experienced nearly four decades of rapid growth. However, this growth model has been embedded with deep structural contradictions from the start. It wasn't based on fully market-driven fair competition, but rather under the control of the CCP's centralized power, with decision-making highly concentrated in the hands of the government officials. Resources often serve businesses and interest groups colluding with these officials. The majority of people only earn a meager income. As early as May 28, 2020, the previous premier, Li Keqiang, stated in a press conference that 600 million people in China earn less than 1,000 yuan per month. Especially after the pandemic, China's economy has reached the end of its growth path. The three engines that once supported growth, exports, investment, and consumption have all fallen into a sharp decline. Overcapacity has become a common phenomenon in every industry. This has led to the arrival of a deflationary era, with prices remaining low, corporate profits declining, wages stagnating, or even regressing, further strengthening the public's cautious consumption mindset. The issue of youth unemployment is particularly severe. In July 2026, China's college graduates are expected to reach 12.7 million, an increase of 480,000 from last year, setting a new historical record. This massive flow of new graduates is entering the job market, but there is a severe shortage of available jobs, leaving many young people unable to find employment. In the past, the government proposed expanding consumption and stimulating consumer demand, but the government has focused its attention on the poor masses, attempting to squeeze whatever it can from their meager incomes. It is fixated on the small amount of money the public has, trying to push them to spend more. But the truth is, the people simply don't have money. The latest data from the Central Bank shows that the average total assets of urban households are 3.18 million yuan, but 70% of this is in real estate, and only 20% is actual financial assets. Just 2% of households hold 80% of the saving, and there are still 560 million people in China with zero bank savings. Households with savings over 500,000 yuan account for only 0.37%, less than four in every 1,000 people. The median household saving in China is only 87,000 yuan, meaning half of Chinese households have less than 90,000 yuan in savings. This reflects the real income of ordinary people among the main consumer force in China. The post-90s generation, each person is burdened with an average debt of 121,000 yuan. As soon as their salary arrives, it goes toward paying off their mortgage and car loan, leaving no money for consumption. In 2026, China's economy will face even more difficult external conditions. The trillion-dollar trade surplus will lead to more frequent trade disputes, stricter investment scrutiny, and trade wars. Technological blockades and supply chain restructuring will become the norm. Domestically, China must confront challenges like the collapse of the real estate market, the local government debt crisis, and the pressure on youth employment. Current affairs commentator Wang He pointed out that in the face of economic turbulence, people are strongly inclined to save and hold cash to get through tough times. This has further contributed to a contradiction in overall consumption in China. This is a structural problem caused by the CCP, and it won't be solved in the short to medium term. China's trillion-dollar trade surplus has sparked a global backlash, making the country's economic situation even harder in 2026.