2026-11-01
A migrant worker from Shandong with over 3 million yuan in debt found himself in a desperate situation after all his bank cards were frozen and his wages were garnished, leaving him unable to even pay his child's 900 yuan tuition. Driven to the brink, he went to a police station asking to be sent to prison just to survive, but was eventually persuaded by officers to abandon the idea.
2026-10-31
Recently, a netizen shared a video: on a street at night, an elderly woman wearing a plastic raincoat and holding an umbrella takes a short break while selling lotus flowers spread on the ground. No passersby stop, and the video has resonated with netizens.
2026-10-29
A man uploaded a video documenting his working life, stating that he gets off work at 4:31 AM and wakes up at 5:35 AM to pack cilantro for piece-rate pay, sleeping only about an hour because he wants to support his two children and does not want his wife to work too hard. When asked by a netizen what he would do if he died, he replied that he would be liberated.
2026-10-29
On October 29, in the parking lot of Yaju Hot Pot Duck in Bincheng District, Binzhou City, Shandong Province, a person in financial distress was seen leaning over a trash can, eating leftover noodles to satisfy their hunger. Netizens used memes such as "It's all Mbappe's fault" to mock the authorities' indifference to people's livelihoods.
2026-10-28
A video by influencer Fengge on Bilibili showing Beijing's Majuqiao bottom-tier day laborers and their harsh living conditions quickly surpassed 3 million views, after which he was reportedly taken away by police during a livestream.
2026-10-27
The documentary on day laborers in Majuqiao, Beijing, previously released by Feng Ge, was taken down before and after its release, becoming inaccessible to the public.
2026-10-26
On October 26, a taxi driver posted a video on Douyin stating that he only earns a few dozen yuan after driving all day, which is not enough to support his family. He lamented, "At this moment, I hate this world," sparking heated discussion among netizens.
2026-10-24
On October 24, a Chengdu netizen uploaded a video: a woman in her 60s wearing a reflective vest sat by a flowerbed weeding, while behind her several retired elderly people were dancing. The caption read “On one side is life, on the other side is survival,” sparking heated discussion among netizens.
2026-10-22
On October 22, a blogger posted a video on Douyin claiming that a 73-year-old stone carving worker earns 200 yuan a day, works amid clouds of dust without wearing a dust mask, with the caption “I don’t mind that he’s old, he doesn’t mind that I pay so little,” sparking heated discussion among netizens.
2026-10-21
Influencer "Feng Ge Wangming Tianya" filmed the living conditions of day laborers in Majuqiao, Beijing; because the content differs greatly from state media narratives, he said in a livestream that he did not dare release the full video.
2026-10-20
On October 20, a blogger in Heilongjiang posted a video in which an elderly man recalled that during the production team era, grain deliveries to the state took up half or even more of the harvest, and that with many children at home there was never enough to eat. The video sparked discussion among netizens about the public grain system and rural pension benefits, with many recounting their experiences of grain shortages in those years and the illness and death of relatives.
2026-10-20
Recently a netizen posted a direct message sent by a 69-year-old elderly person while job hunting, in which the elderly person claimed to be able to endure hardship and very obedient. Many people in the comments shared their own experiences of elders in their 60s being rejected when seeking jobs, sparking attention to the employment difficulties of the elderly.
2026-10-18
A woman in Zhengzhou, who was supporting three children and a sick elderly parent, earned less than 200 yuan in 8 days of food delivery work. Facing despair that hard work could not feed her family and the survival predicament of the new era, she chose to burn charcoal. The incident involves three children aged 2, 4, and 9, and has been called by outsiders a replay of the Yang Gailan incident in Gansu ten years ago.
2026-10-18
On October 18, a netizen posted that at 1 a.m. at a food stall, an elderly person asked for an empty mineral water bottle and then ate someone else's leftovers. The netizen offered to treat them to a meal, but the elderly person replied, "I want to eat dumplings." Since there were no dumplings at the night market, the netizen instead bought fried noodles with meat to give them.
2026-10-17
An elderly man in Henan posted a video online to protest gas prices being too high to afford, shouting slogans such as "Down with Japanese imperialism" and "Long live the Chinese Communist Party."
2026-10-17
According to a post by X user QuanLujun, a tragedy occurred in Gansu on October 17, 2026, in which a mother and her three children were all found dead by a neighbor. The poster noted that this happened on the same day as a similar incident in Zhengzhou, and criticized the Chinese Communist Party's grand narrative for covering up the desperate plight of people at the bottom of society.
2026-10-15
According to a Voice of Hope report, on October 15, 2026, in a certain place in Yunnan, the owner of a fruit stall mounted on a small truck, unable to bear the pressure of life due to poor financial circumstances, dumped an entire truckload of fruit onto the road and ran it over with his truck to destroy it. The incident reflects the despair and survival plight of ordinary people at the bottom of society under the current severe economic situation.
2026-10-15
Recently a netizen posted a video recording an elderly person squatting barefoot at the doorway of an old house eating a meal, saying that they usually have no money to buy meat and can only eat meat during the New Year when they go to their sister's house. The poster bought cooked food and brought it to the elderly person, and in the comments some people questioned who should be held responsible.
2026-10-15
On October 15, a woman in Weihai, Shandong posted a video saying she had lost her job and could not afford social insurance. She then received a "caring call" from her community, followed by another video in which she urgently clarified that no one would starve to death in this time of peace and prosperity. The comment section of the original video was emptied, and netizens joked in the bullet comments that she had been threatened.
2026-10-15
On October 15, a mother of three working as a food delivery driver tearfully appealed to netizens for help, saying she had earned less than 200 yuan after 8 days of deliveries, with a sick elderly family member at home, and that she had eaten only one tomato and one egg at noon for 7 consecutive days, sparking heated discussion among netizens.
2026-10-15
On October 15, a netizen in Anhui filmed an elderly person in a wheelchair rummaging through trash cans on the street at night, searching for recyclables. The video sparked sarcastic discussion among netizens.
2026-10-14
Host Qiqi cited observations from her hometown of Linquan, Fuyang, stating that banquet helpers in rural areas who wash vegetables and serve dishes from morning until night earn a daily wage of only 80 to 100 yuan, and the competition is fierce.
2026-10-13
On October 13, an unemployed woman in Weihai, Shandong, publicly posted a video saying she has no source of income and can only survive by collecting scrap, that she is unable to afford social insurance fees, and calling on the social security bureau to help her find a job, promising to pay social insurance immediately once employed.
2026-10-12
A blogger in Sichuan posted a video on October 12 recording the daily life of local children mixing white rice with seasoned soy sauce and water.
2026-10-12
On October 12, a food delivery rider posted a video in the Shangchenghui commercial district of Wuxi with the caption "Delivering food and sleeping on the e-bike," showing how he had set up a resting spot on his electric bike. Netizens in the comments section remarked, "Even Xiangzi never slept on his rickshaw."
2026-10-11
On October 11, a netizen uploaded a video to Douyin showing a wrinkled old lady carrying cement bricks, sparking concern and reflection about the living conditions of people at the bottom of society.
2026-10
Li Hufu, a farmer in Qingdao, Shandong, posted a video stating that a tricycle load of over 300 catties of green onions sold for less than 40 yuan, averaging out to 12 fen per catty, which has sparked widespread concern over the difficult living conditions of elderly people in rural areas.
2026-10
During the National Day holiday, a blogger filmed scenes of elderly people waiting for work at 5:30 a.m. at a labor market in Handan, Hebei: a 75-year-old man lifted his bicycle to prove his strength after being rejected for his age, a 64-year-old man said he had been looking for work for 10 years but was still passed over because bosses wanted younger people, and three people shared one extra-wide bed, paying 100 yuan a month in rent with no heating.
2026-09-25
Outside the Guizhou People's Hospital in Guiyang, someone has set up a charity stall to provide free meals to cancer patients and their families, and has also donated cash to some individuals.
2026-09-15
In September 2026, online reports reflected that the number of homeless people on the streets of Shenzhen was increasing year by year — they could not be accommodated under overpasses, in underground passages, or in unfinished buildings; to avoid the social impact, the government closed a well-known homeless encampment and drove homeless people out of densely populated areas.
2026-09-13
In September 2026, a practitioner in the livestreaming industry said that e-commerce livestreaming is now very difficult to do: influencers have to spend their own money to buy traffic and commissions have shrunk. Sometimes, after a full day of streaming, deducting costs leaves only a few dozens of yuan in earnings, or even a loss. Fearing job loss because of a heavy mortgage, he is afraid of being unemployed.
2026-09-13
In September 2026, the owner of a small supermarket in the countryside said that customers are now reluctant to spend a single penny, there is almost no one on the street, goods are piling up in the store and cannot be sold, manufacturers' promotional activities attract no attention, and supply salespeople are frequently replaced.
2026-09
Some returning migrant workers stated that job wages in Fujian, especially Xiamen, are mostly 4,000 to 5,000 RMB per month, making it difficult to cover rent and living costs, prompting some migrant workers to return home.
2026-09
An elderly person in Tianjin had their handicrafts forcibly confiscated by law enforcement officers while selling them at a street stall, sparking public concern and condemnation over the hardships faced by ordinary people at the bottom of society.
2026-09
A worker in Jiangxi plunged into a filthy sewer holding his breath to clean it, with no apparent safety measures in place, prompting netizens to question why such dangerous work is carried out without even basic protective gear.
2026-08-20
A 30-year-old man surnamed Yang fell on hard times financially after losing his job in Shenzhen, nearly fasting for 20 days and developing acute kidney failure; he later suffered damage to his eyesight due to an acute nervous system illness caused by a lack of vitamin B1. The incident sparked widespread discussion.
2026-08-14
On August 14, 2026, investigative journalist Li Weiao disclosed during a field visit to the mountainous areas of Hanzhong, Shaanxi, that elderly left-behind farmers receive only 200 yuan in pension per month; living in straitened circumstances, they still have to stay up all night in the fields to ward off wild boars to make a living.
2026-08
A 57-year-old pig farmer in Hebei said in an August interview that her breeding scale had shrunk from a peak of more than 500 head to 10, that she was carrying about $75,000 in debt, and that she planned to get rid of her last pigs in the fall, saying that in more than 20 years of raising pigs it had never been this difficult.
2025-09-11
Guo Youcai originally sold barbecue in Heze, Shandong, before becoming famous through live-streaming songs. Driven by capital, he started a company and invited Angie Chiu to support him. By September 11, 2025, less than two years later, he was reported to have lost all his savings and incurred debts, returning to the old platform of the South Station of Heze Railway Station in Shandong Province to continue selling barbecue. Unlike his previous efforts to increase income, his purpose for returning to the barbecue business has shifted to paying off his debts as quickly as possible.
2025-08-10
On August 10, a netizen in Guangdong filmed a female sanitation worker pausing during her break to watch retired people her own age singing and dancing in a square, her expression full of envy and helplessness at the vast income gap.
2025-05-01
As poverty-alleviation propaganda was being published, several elderly people at the bottom of society said they could not afford meat, saw no hope in life, and suffered too much just living; even past the age of 70, they still had to survive by scavenging and selling vegetables.
2025-03-07
On March 7, CCTV host Bai Yansong said that farmers' monthly pensions of just over 100 yuan are clearly insufficient, noting that multiple committee members and delegates are proposing to raise them by 20 yuan per year starting now, so that farmers' pensions double in ten years.
2024-10
An Oxfam report from October 2024 (using data from the first quarter of 2024) shows that the median monthly income of Hong Kong's poorest 10% of households was HK$1,600, down 54% from HK$3,500 in 2019, while the richest 10% earned 101,000; the gap between rich and poor widened from 34.3 times to 81.9 times, the poverty rate was 2.2%, and about 1.39 million people lived below the poverty line. The government's poverty report has not been updated since 2021.
2024-09
A 33-year-old food delivery worker in Chengdu was rushed to the hospital after a brain hemorrhage. His wife decided to remove the life support and give up treatment, arguing that even if he survived he would be a useless burden and would require huge medical expenses.
2024-07-22
Lao Fan, a 70-year-old unmarried man with no children in Yangpu, Shanghai, was sentenced to seven months in prison for stealing an electric bicycle; a social worker's assessment pointed out that Lao Fan will face enormous survival problems after his release from prison.
2008-09-08
Fu Daxin, a 69-year-old five-guarantee household recipient in Qidong County, Hunan Province, whose monthly pension was only 50 yuan, was sentenced to two years in prison for attempted robbery after wielding a fruit knife at Beijing Railway Station in order to be cared for in prison.