By Lisa li

This is part of a series of posts ‘Demystifying Lower Tier China’.

3rd night in Tangshan; the team are exhausted but nobody wants to stop meeting people, listening to their stories, and exploring the city. I got this ‘evening break’ to write up something while others are dividing into 2 teams, one team interviewing an owner of a street dancing club and several student dancers, the other team having dinner with university students.

‘Tier 3 cities are just a slightly lower version of top tier cities.’ That’s what we heard and what we thought. But when we actually sat at an apartment of a young working adult’s, visited the most trend-leading buyer’s shop and interviewed the owner, hanged out in the most posh club and talked to the general manager/DJ of the club, visited in a high school and talked to a teacher and a few students, we were impressed by the ‘cultural crush’. Well I admit it’s exaggerated to say ‘cultural crush’ because you probably won’t feel it if you only consider the city a past tense of top tier city or a ‘lower version’.

Crush No. 1 – ‘a shortened youth time’

‘I always encourage young friends of mine to go out of the city because the time of youth is just too short in Tangshan. Some of my friends were band members, or street dancers in their teen age. But when they are in their early 20s, I saw them wearing very ‘normal’ and hand in hand with their children in the street. I was shocked, and I asked ‘you don’t look like yourself!’ They would highly possibly go ‘yeah, I grew up…’ Said Sister Miao.

Sister Miao is ‘famous’ in Tangshan. She started her buyer shop ‘Weird House’ 14 years ago. All youth and their parents know this shop. 10 years ago, schools prohibit any clothes from ‘Weird House’ to be worn at school. Sister Miao has been connected to and tried her best to elevate the local youth culture – rock bands in the past, skaters, hip hop dancers and MCs now – because she believes that the creative culture is the soil of her fashion.

‘10 years ago my taste was accepted by a few, but today it is accepted by majority, including teens. Young people are becoming more individualistic in their appearance. However different from their peers in Beijing, they still feel stressed to look ‘too different’’.

Crush No. 2 - ‘a consumption not a lifestyle’

‘I find little difference in terms of brand awareness and choice of alcohol between Tangshan and Beijing youth. Young people in Tangshan go to Beijing for shopping. They go to the bars and clubs in Beijing too. They know what young people drink in Beijing and they order the same here.’

Li Xiaole left Tangshan 8 years ago for Beijing for his rock dream. ‘I was a weirdo in Tangshan, but I found myself too common in Beijing.’ He went pretty far on his rock career. But in the end he was broke, and he made a living as a DJ in a club at Wudaokou. He got back to Tangshan, and held his own live house. He invited his friends’ bands to come to Tangshan for performances. He’s now general manger of Toy Club, the biggest club in Tangshan. He was busy and picking up phone calls all the time during the interview. ‘Do you miss the DJ desk?’ ‘I occasionally do the DJ in person after 12:30am.’

‘Different from Beijing, people here don’t respond to DJ’s music. It matters more to be ABLE to CONSUME, and less to understand a lifestyle.’ That’s true: at a glance the club is just like one of those in top tier cities, but the music, the clothes, the dance, the social are all different. ‘They spend a lot! Even more than the top tier cities. But I would rather see them more rational. Because a rational consumption behavior indicates that they understand the lifestyle.’

Crush No. 3 - ‘a secret identity’

Our team member Ryan is a native of Tangshan. We had a lunch with his parents. ‘Ryan has been an obedient kid. He never smoke, nor drink.’ says Ryan’s mother. ‘Yeah, he certainly is.’ we responded without a face of surprise because Ryan has ‘briefed’ us before the trip - his mother doesn’t know he smokes, nor he has a tattoo.

Ryan started to have his ‘secret identity’ in his high school age. The ‘secret identity’ include his band, his girlfriends, his cigarettes, and tattoo…

Parents seem to have greater influence on teens/youth in lower tier cities. The system of political power is more traditional in lower tier cities, and young people are more reliant on parents on job resources. In addition, the living cost (especially housing cost) has not skyrocketed as it is in the top tier cities, and parents’ savings are still significant to young people in getting apartments and cars. As a result, kids here tend to be more obedient and dependent on family, at least they seem to be.

‘The air in Beijing is just free. Many kids came from other cities and are away from their parents. Who wouldn’t be free without surveillance from parents!’ Li Xiaole commented.

Crush No. 4 - ‘the decadence of teens’

‘Kids are becoming less keen to go to top tier cities. They even care less about a university degree… ‘Why would I bother to get it if the degree wouldn’t help me to get a job in the end?’’ says Ryan’s high school teacher. She’s teaching a class in Grade 3 in No. 11 high school.

‘The parents today satisfy all of the material needs of their kids. However the more the kids material needs are satisfied, the less they are motivated to make any endeavor… The kids don’t have dreams. Their dreams were lost through the series of entrance exams.’

All of the above have implications to marketers, don’t they? Coming soon Ryan’s video blog and Go Takayama’s photo blog.

Filed under: Fashion & visual arts, Lower tier youth, So What?, China youth culture, high school, Lisa Li, lower tier cities, night life, post 90s, Tangshan, teens