For years, China has proudly presented its high-speed rail network as a symbol of national strength, modern engineering, and unstoppable progress. Spanning tens of thousands of kilometers, the network is often described as so vast it could wrap around the Earth multiple times. To the outside world, it looks like a miracle of infrastructure. But beneath the polished image lies a darker reality—one whispered about online, quietly discussed by engineers, and feared by those who know how these railways are actually built. A single word captures this fear: tofu.
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Beijing’s first-tier cities have cooled down to this point. At noon, there is not even a single person eating. Let’s take a look at the shops on the streets of Beijing. This place used to be very bustling. I haven’t been here for two weeks, and now all of them are closed. The feeling among business owners is the most obvious. Look at the streets of Beijing. It’s already past noon, and there are basically no cars. We’ll change lanes later and take another look.

#chinaeconomy #chinacrisis #chinaundercover #chinaeconomy #tofu

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Hello everyone, welcome back to China Undercover. Today, I want you to pause for a moment and picture this scene. From high above, the camera glides slowly forward. Beneath it, the land is no longer soil or asphalt—it is metal. Endless metal.

Across China, tens of thousands of brand-new electric vehicles sit abandoned in massive open lots, stretching for kilometers. What looks like prosperity from above is actually a warning sign of extreme overproduction. These EV graveyards reveal a system producing far more than it can sell.

#chinaeconomy #china #undercover #news #chinaeconomy

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Can you believe this is Shenzhen? This city once symbolized speed, wealth, opportunity, and limitless possibility. Today, it feels strangely empty. Streets that used to be packed are now silent. Shopping malls echo with footsteps. Restaurants wait all day for customers who never come. I dare say that 90 percent of brick-and-mortar stores in Shenzhen will not survive this winter. Since September, businesses across every industry have been barely hanging on. Fruit vendors, vegetable sellers, clothing shop owners—everyone is clenching their teeth and forcing themselves to endure. Do you honestly think any industry in Shenzhen is still safe?

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“This uncle is picking up leftover food from other people’s homes. What kind of society is this? There are still people going hungry.”
Amid China’s sluggish economy and persistently high unemployment, a so-called “vegetable-picking frenzy” has emerged across the country. Many young people, in an effort to save money, are flocking to farmers’ markets to scavenge discarded vegetables for sustenance.
Images circulating online show participants from various regions, including Guangdong, Hangzhou, Chengdu in Sichuan, and Guizhou. Among them are university graduates, unemployed youth, and stay-at-home mothers.

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Many people think that when a physical store closes, it is only the problem of that one store owner. That is a big mistake—a serious misunderstanding. When hair salons, small restaurants, and clothing stores close one after another, your salary is not far from being cut. The collapse of physical stores is not the collapse of individual businesses, but the collapse of the entire city’s economy. This is a vicious cycle, and no one survives it. These places used to be full. Every shop used to be packed. Look at this cake shop, and then the Hong Kong-style market next to it—both are now closed. People used to say this was the best location. This area is by the river.