China's Capital Is Collapsing! No One on the Streets, No One in Offices, No One in Restaurants

三里屯空置商鋪挺多的,需要的可以過來實地看看。 There are many vacant storefronts in Sanlitun, once known as Beijing's trendsetting landmark and a bustling shopping destination, the area now looks quiet and deserted. As you can see here, as the camera slowly pans across the streets, former viral shops, trendy fashion pop-ups and cafes sit behind closed doors. Signs reading Storefront for Transfer and Rent Negotiable are posted on the entrances. The lights in this prime location are still on, but business has quietly cooled down. 現在實體生意怎麼這麼難做呀? Why has running a physical business become so difficult? I've honestly been feeling anxious and stressed every day at work, because there are barely any customers coming in. I work in Sanlitun, Beijing. The foot traffic used to be pretty good. Now it's summer vacation, which is usually our peak season for sales, but there are really so few people every day. It's extremely difficult for us to make any sales. I don't know why, but Beijing's foot traffic this year is clearly much lower than in the past two years. I remember last July, there were really crowds everywhere. But now, even looking at Sanlitun Plaza, there are far fewer people. Our store is almost empty. The situation is really that the harder we try, the more anxious and stressed we become. Every day feels the same. I want to make sales when I come to work. We want to happily welcome customers too. But there are simply no customers. Now even if we work 10 times, 20 times, or even 100 times harder than before, I feel it still wouldn't sell as well, or make as much money as it used to. What happened to Beijing's physical retail sector this year? There are really so few people, and this is Beijing during the peak summer consumption season in July. Shouldn't everyone be coming to Beijing? On August 31st, footage filmed by a person showed the scene inside a Beijing Red Star Michelin home furnishing mall. The huge shopping floor had almost no customers, with only a few staff members visible. The lights were bright, but they failed to create any sense of activity. The scene looked almost deserted. As the real estate market collapsed, Red Star Macklin began cutting back to survive, voluntarily closing many underperforming stores across China. In the first half of 2026 alone, it shut down 20 stores. It is not the only one. Major chains such as Red Star Macklin and IKEA have also been reducing their scale. At around 7 a.m. on August 9th, a person recorded nearly 3 minutes of continuous footage at Beijing Daxing International Airport. There were almost no passengers, with only one staff member seen walking through the area. The spacious terminal remained brightly lit, with facilities neatly arranged, but the lack of crowds made the entire space feel unusually empty. There were no lines at check-in counters, no passengers passing through security, and escalators ran without anyone using them. Announcements echoed through the nearly empty terminal. Beijing Daxing International Airport is one of the largest airports in the world, with construction costing 450 billion yuan, about 63 billion U.S. dollars. It was originally designed as a bustling international hub, but it has now become eerily quiet. On August 9, another person uploaded footage from Beijing Capital International Airport. The video showed a shocking scene. Rows of seats in the spacious terminal were almost completely empty. Airports are supposed to be a city's most international gateway, representing connection and prosperity, but today, they have become nearly empty waiting halls. Although visa-free policies have continued to expand and flights have gradually recovered, the reality is that passenger numbers remain low, and foreign travelers are especially difficult to find. The quiet terminals are not only a visible sign of declining international exchanges, but also a reflection of China's broader economic weakness, growing deflation pressure, and increasingly cautious consumer spending, making the situation worse. On September 15, China introduced new exit and entry regulations that further restrict overseas travel for Chinese citizens. The policy directly reduced potential outbound passenger flows, making the decline at airports even more noticeable. The country's international gateway is gradually narrowing, and empty terminals have become one of the clearest signs of economic difficulties and tighter restrictions. Many people have noticed that it is not just airports. Subway stations have also become quieter, and many migrant workers in Beijing are leaving the city. Some large shopping centers are now nearly empty. The crowds that once filled the streets have disappeared, and stores along the roads have closed one after another. Commercial areas are now left with only scattered pedestrians. A person in Beijing posted a video with the caption, Many companies in Beijing have gone bankrupt. Even big business owners are taking slow trains now. People used to squeeze onto subways to get to work. Now even the people are disappearing. 現在做生意太難了, 很多公司都倒了。 Doing business is too difficult now. Many companies have gone bankrupt. I used to think I was running a small business. When people asked me how much I earned, I felt embarrassed to say. But those days are gone. Now big business owners often feel enormous pressure and may not even live as comfortably as small business owners like us. In the past, during weekdays, you couldn't even find a place to park here. Now these areas are almost empty. Beijing's office buildings used to be brightly lit all day and night. Now many of them are sitting vacant. Recently a person filmed Wangfujing Snack Street in Beijing, which was once extremely popular. The area is now nearly deserted. 很多人很好奇 曾經火爆一時的 Wangfujing小吃. What has happened to the once famous Wangfujing Snack Street? Oh my god, it's really shocking. This was the Wangfujing Snack Street that was once incredibly crowded. Now you could say it's completely empty. Guys, in the past, coming here to buy something meant being surrounded by crowds everywhere. There were people everywhere. But now, look at the foot traffic. Oh my god, there's almost no one here. What exactly happened? Why is nobody coming anymore? 沿着四環路 串了一下北京的家居建材賣場。 I drove around Beijing's Fourth Ring Road and visited six of the city's large or long-established home furnishing and building material markets. The conclusion I reached is that there's nobody there. Or to put it less absolutely, there are almost no people. 這個商場是我在北京見過 爲數不多。 This is one of the few shopping malls I've been in Beijing that is almost completely empty. It's Wangfujing Outlets, located near Wudian Road in Daxing. As soon as you enter the mall, you can see there isn't a single person. My goodness. Now let's go check out the basement level, which is a discount store specializing in clothing. It's not a small space, but there's nobody here. The feeling I get from this mall is that there are not many permanent residents nearby. Many people have left Beijing, making this place even more deserted. 昨天約了箇中介 去建外SOHO看房。 Yesterday I contacted a real estate agent to look at offices in Jianwai SOHO. This is a prime office area in the central business district near Guomao. They furnished office rents for about 2.5 yuan per square meter. Empty units are even cheaper, about 1.9 yuan per square meter. Do you know how much rent was here in 2019? 9 yuan per square meter. Back then, offices were so in demand that it was hard to find one available. Now people are leaving. There's not much point anymore. 在村土村經的國貿隔壁, next to Guomao, one of Beijing's most expensive areas, there is an abandoned construction project that has remained unfinished for more than 20 years. This is Beijing's Yitai Plaza. The project has a total planned floor area of nearly 2.2 million square feet, including three A-grade office buildings and a large shopping mall. It was originally considered a prime location with huge profit potential. But after the project was approved in 2002, construction did not begin until 2012. And progress was repeatedly halted. The story behind it is even more complicated. The project was initially developed by Singaporean real estate giant Kepuland before being transferred to another company. In 2018, the developer borrowed 310 million from Cinder Hong Kong. After failing to repay the loan, interest continued to accumulate. By 2022, the combined principal and interest had reached 3.79 billion yuan, which is about 530 million. In January 2023, Cinder put the debt up for auction with an opening bid of 1.9 billion yuan, which is about 270 million, almost 50% discount to clear the asset. But because the price was still too high and the project remained unfinished, the auction failed. Why was nobody willing to take over? On the surface, it looked like a 1.9 billion yuan unfinished building, but in reality, it came with a 3.8 billion yuan debt hole. Whoever took over would likely have to keep pouring money into it. Industry insiders said that with office rents in Beijing continuing to fall, taking on such a risky project could easily lead to huge losses. A Grade A office tower and shopping complex that was supposed to become a money-making machine has instead turned into a massive unfinished project. The failure of Yitai Plaza is only a reflection of the commercial real estate bubble in China's major cities. As office rents in Beijing continue to decline, foot traffic in major shopping districts such as Sunlitun drops, and bomb of the physical economy fades, even Grade A office buildings could eventually become empty shells. Recently, for those living in Beijing, I wonder if you have noticed some obvious changes like I have. I've lived in Beijing for nearly 30 years, and two things recently really stuck me. The first was taking the subway at 8.30 p.m. and actually getting a seat. In the past, whether it was 8.30 or 9 p.m., the subway was always packed. You didn't even need to hold a handrail because people were pressed so tightly together that nobody could fall. Now, I can sit comfortably all the way. That feeling is really unfamiliar. The second thing that surprised me was driving to work on Monday. When I arrived at the underground parking garage, there were immediately empty parking spaces available. In the past, driving to work meant being stuck in traffic for more than an hour, then spending another half hour circling the garage looking for a spot. That was normal. Now, I can park right away. The contrast is so big that it's hard to believe. China's continued economic slowdown has hit businesses hard and made the employment situation increasingly difficult. In recent years, more and more videos have appeared online of people struggling to find work. And the number has increased this year. One highly educated office worker in Beijing said that after losing her job, she could not even find work washing dishes. 92年,說好了。 I was born in 1992, the year of the monkey. I'm 34 years old. Today is my 23rd day unemployed as a migrant worker in Beijing. I can't even find a part-time job washing dishes. I've become numb from looking for work. This is Beijing. Yet finding a job is actually this difficult. This morning, I messaged a woman at a restaurant where I used to work part-time washing dishes. I asked her, Sis, do you need any part-time workers in the next couple of days? She replied, no. Business has been bad recently. She's the restaurant manager and they simply don't need part-time workers. I was stunned. Is the overall environment really this bad now? I no longer dare to hope for those good office jobs. I can't even find work washing dishes or doing basic errands. This is Beijing. This is Beijing on August 13, 2026. 91年35歲。 I was born in 1991 and I'm 35 years old. I have completely ended my 15-year life as a migrant worker in Beijing. I did not achieve financial freedom and I never built the perfect family. I came here alone and I'm leaving alone. Getting married, having children, buying a home, buying a car. None of those milestones ever became part of my life. In the end, I left Beijing because I could no longer afford the rent. The content creator said his hometown is Jilin City in northeastern China. Now he does not know where to go, what to do next, or how he will survive in the future. He says he feels completely lost. There was a time when Beijing was seen by many as the city with the most opportunities and the greatest concentration of resources in China. It was home to top universities, well-known companies, and a large number of high-paying jobs. Countless young people arrived carrying their bags, hoping to change their futures. However, in recent years, Beijing has been experiencing an unprecedented loss of young talent, with more and more young people choosing to leave. Data shows that in 2015, among every 100 permanent residents in Beijing, about 21 were young people. By 2024, that number had fallen to around 11. In other words, in just a few years, the proportion of young people has nearly been cut in half. Why are young people leaving? The reasons are not complicated. On one hand, Beijing's housing prices, rents and living costs have remained high for years. Even people with decent incomes often feel enormous pressure. On the other hand, as economic growth slows, some industries have started cutting jobs. Companies are reducing hiring and opportunities for young people have become more limited. For a city, young people represent not only consumer spending power, but also future growth potential. Once young people continue to leave, consumer markets will naturally be affected and commercial vitality will decline as well. China's continued economic slowdown has dealt a major blow to businesses and made the employment situation increasingly difficult. Recently, a 2026 graduate job search post struck a chord with many people and quickly became a trending topic online. However, it was soon removed by authorities. The article said that when interviewing for a regular new media operation position with a monthly salary of about 5000 to 6000 yuan or roughly 700 to 840 US dollars, the competition included master's degree holders from overseas universities and former team leaders from major internet companies with five years of work experience. This overwhelming competition left ordinary fresh graduates with almost no room to survive. As the article put it, everyone is moving downward, highly educated people are competing for lower-level jobs, leaving those at the bottom with nowhere to go. The article said that on recruitment platforms such as BossDrupin and 51Job, people can send out hundreds of resumes but receive almost nothing except automated replies or messages being read without a response. Many job postings are not actually hiring. Instead, company use them to create the appearance that they are still operating normally or simply to collect free ideas and proposals. Only after attending interviews do applicants discover that many positions have already been frozen. The article said, Beijing was once the destination where countless young people chased their dreams. But today, the city's cost of survival, including rent and daily expenses, remains high while opportunities are shrinking rapidly. Staying means facing a survival deficit every day after waking up. Returning home means facing the decline of county-level economies and the pressure of small-town social networks. We've become an unfinished generation, trapped with nowhere to move forward and nowhere to retreat. The post resonated with many people and quickly became a trending topic. It not only reflects Beijing's situation but also highlights a broader structural problem facing China's major cities, including Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou. In the Repost and Comments section, many people shared similar experiences. Today's reality is not that we refuse to work hard. It's that even the chance to work hard and be exploited has to go through several rounds of brutal screening and interviews. Finding a job is no longer about salary. There are too many people with higher education and more experience than us. Competition is intense. There are fewer positions and the employment environment is very difficult. My girlfriend has been looking for a job for half a year and still hasn't made any progress. I started working in 2020 and changed jobs several times along the way. My feeling is that finding work has become harder every year. In the past, even without certificates or much experience, I could still receive interview invitations from some mid-sized companies. Now, I barely get any interviews, let alone offers. Before, even if I didn't get hired, at least I had interviews. Now, I don't even get many interviews, let alone a job offer. One overseas user wrote in a post, 10 years. It only took 10 years. China's three economic growth engines have all stalled. The wave of pay cuts, unpaid wages, unemployment, business closures, mortgage defaults, returns, negative assets, the inhumane work culture, lying flat, and endless internal competition. Blindly promoting GDP and other economic figures can no longer fool people. People's own experiences are the most real. The most severe deflation has also arrived. A group of people who spent 10 years for aggressive nationalism have finally woken up from the dream and realized what reality looks like.