After happy water and caterpillar fungus, a good sleep does the trick

In the recent hit Chinese reality show Chengfeng Polang de Jiejie (Sisters Who Brave Winds and Waves) one of those featured, the actress Ning Jing, practices dancing while drinking milk tea she has made herself, and which, she says, is all the more healthy because of a special ingredient she added to it: caterpillar fungus.

In this brief scene we are given a snapshot of the mindset of Chinese in their 20s who are in love with nightlife, but are intent on preserving their physical health, including looks, even as they burn the candle at both ends.

Young people have now staked out a large claim for the attentions of the health-preservation industry, one that used to be the preserve of the elderly, so it is not surprising that old brands have changed their activities to include crossover health products.

"Since COVID-19 appeared, traditional Chinese medicine has taken center stage, and in line with public health needs and awareness the trend has been to the Chinese quintessential health regime," says Shi Xuyang, of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine.

The 351-year-old brand Tong Ren Tang has got into diet coffee, but it is not alone among health companies. Last year the cafe chain Pacific Coffee and China's largest donkey-hide gelatin producer, Dong'e Ejiao, launched their Coffee So Gummy drinks line. Ejiao is a traditional medicinal tonic made of donkey glue. According to Pacific Coffee, after the series was launched in stores in seven cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, sales of the new products were more than 30 percent higher than those of their conventional new products.

In April Dong'e Ejiao also launched an ejiao gold bar that is claimed to enhance immunity. It uses low-temperature vacuum continuous drying technology to turn traditional ejiao blocks into individually packaged ejiao in small bags. The powder in the bag can be dissolved instantly in water and mixed with other beverages.

According to research by Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, from January to June this year the sales of bagged traditional tonics rose 60 percent, not far behind the rise in sales of natural herbal powder tonics, nearly 70 percent, last year.

Bubble milk tea, which young people commonly call kuai le shui (happy water), is also a product on which many companies are lavishing their attentions. Last year the owners of the popular Wong Lo Kat drinks brand launched two healthy milk tea products: lotus leaf milk tea and green sugarcane crunchy milk, keen on solving the problem of milk tea that tastes good but is too high in calorie content.

As much as the milk tea fad has swept young people off their feet, the popularity of older food and beverage traditions such as hotpot shows no sign of waning. In fact when COVID-19 had full sway in China in the first half of the year a Weibo survey that asked people what food or drink they were most looking forward to once the epidemic ended came up with hotpot ahead of milk tea and barbecue food.

The toothpaste brand Leng Suan Ling has long eyed toothpaste with a hotpot taste, and in May it finally hit the market, the first 4,000 tubes selling out within 12 hours.

Spicy particles are added to the crystal toothpaste, and the first taste is slight sweetness. After that, spiciness takes over, and one claim made for the toothpaste is that if you have trouble getting up in the morning it may act as an all-day pick-me-up.

As with the usual a la carte choices in hotpot restaurants, the toothpaste comes in three flavors: standard moderately spicy, Sichuan-Chongqing slightly spicy and rumored kinky spicy.

However, some experts have poured cold water on any enthusiasm that this toothpaste may hold for the young.

"Young people know full well that milk tea is high in calories and that hotpot is greasy and unhealthy, but because eating these things can give them emotional satisfaction even if there are many downsides, they still can't help but want them," says Jiang Wenxiu of the Department of Psychiatry, Zhongda Hospital, Southeast University in Jiangsu.

"At first glance the punk diet not only satisfies a consumer's desires but also protects their health. It's a perfect choice. Those who have eaten these so-called punk health foods should know that most products that take the punk route have no punk taste at all, and staying healthy is also a whim－but healthcare is a good business."

Taking action is the essence of staying health, Jiang says.

"It's easier for young people to look after their health than is the case with older people. As long as good living habits are maintained that's OK."

Jiang then spells out what some of those habits are.

"Go to bed early. This is the most important thing. The main reason why many young people are in poor health is that they often stay up late. It's incredibly important to maintain good sleeping habits, and to try to get sleep and rest before 10:30 or 11 pm."

Playing on your mobile phone at night is likely to deprive you of quality sleep, studies have found. A survey by the market consultancy iResearch found that nearly 80 percent of those who went to bed late said that playing on mobile phones is what they like doing before bedtime. Nearly 60 percent said that it was playing with their mobile phones that got them into the habit of staying up late. Among those who play with mobile phones before going to bed, as many as 62.7 percent say they sleep poorly, according to research.

A survey by Shandong Talent of 50,000 post-1990 white-collar workers in Shandong province found that being single or not having a job or enough money was not the biggest anxiety of this group, but of being seen as "fat and middle-aged".

There is little doubt that female white-collar workers pay more attention to health preservation, says the report. The two sexes have different priorities, with men paying more attention to improving their physical fitness and women paying more attention to their physical appearance.

As for what people think of healthy living, a survey by Zhiwei Data found that among 1,000 respondents 41.3 percent said drinking good herbal tea was the most important thing for them in staying healthy, followed by 40.3 percent who said maintaining a healthy lifestyle was the most important thing, and 7.6 percent who said what was most important was using traditional Chinese medicine. Only 2 percent rated a regular fitness program as most important. This suggests that young people adhere to the belief that you should budge only if you really need to.

"The two cheapest and cost-effective ways of staying healthy are getting exercise and going to bed early," Jiang says. "They are much more affordable than eating various health products and applying various cosmetics. If you stay up all night, even the cosmetics of royalty can't solve your problem skin, and the very best doctors can't cure your physical problems.

"Do something to improve your quality of life and make yourself happy at heart. It's more of an attitude. The awe of life and self-esteem are the things that really matter most."