Social Media Digest

Gen Zers are resting their way to self-care

With the tag of "bed rotting", these videos have gained more than 3.2 million views on TikTok. It seems that Gen Zers are embracing a slower pace of life, with self-care happening in bed.

"Bed rotting" refers to lying in bed for long periods of time. As long as you're cuddled up in bed outside of bedtime, it doesn't matter what you do while in bed or why you're there.

Some people are "bed rotting" while binge-watching TV, stuffing their faces with sugary snacks or simply staring at the ceiling. Others are practicing self-care by doing face masks and meditating in bed.

Fans claim that "bed rotting" can be a great way to restore both physical and mental health, whether they are recovering from a cold, or just a busy week. However, balance is important for people's health. Jessi Gold, an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Washington University, US, said it is important to balance sleeping and rest with other coping mechanisms that are more active, such as reading or running.

"You don't always have to fight the urge to bed rot, but ask yourself why," she said in one of her TikTok videos.

Guiding tourism around China

As summer travel season sets in this year, many people are taking vacations. With China's tourism market heating up in step with scorching temperatures, some dedicated tour guides have gone viral on Chinese social media due to their different tour guiding styles.

The 70-year-old tour guide Yang Jian from Xi'an, Shaanxi province, is one of them. Videos of him telling historical and cultural stories while acting out historical scenes have amused many netizens. For example, while standing on the Xi'an City Walls, he vividly portrayed how a soldier kept out bandits back in the Tang Dynasty (618-907).

Another tour guide named Qi Qin in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region also saw his follower count soar to over 3 million after one of his customers posted a vlog showing how meticulously he took care of them during a tour. According to the vlogger, Qi not only fully arranged their trip, but also recommended tourist attractions with reasonable prices and prevented them from buying costly goods.

"You can see his passion for this career in the video," one netizen commented.