China is longing for the ‘Beauty of the Boom Years’

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People are reviving memories of the 2000s and the early 2010s with photos of daring outfits, upbeat songs and vintage TV commercials.

PHOTO: DONGYAN XU/NYTIMES

Li Yuan

BEIJING – A new catchphrase is sweeping China’s social media: The Beauty of the Boom Years.

Using apps such as RedNote and Douyin, people are reviving memories of the 2000s and the early 2010s with photos of daring outfits, upbeat songs and vintage TV commercials, all of which, in different ways, evoke a time in China that pulsed with optimism.

“The music back then throbbed with exuberance, brimming with the sense that the future could only get brighter,” a middle-aged man said in a RedNote video.

“Today’s lyrics begin with lines like, ‘We’re trying our best to survive.’”

Others reminisced about fashion. “Twenty years ago when I was in college, I wore camisoles and hot pants,” wrote a female RedNote user under the hashtag #BeautyOfTheBoomYears. “These days, students dress more like nuns, always draped in oversized clothes.”

Using the hashtag, Chinese who started their careers two decades ago brag about when they received multiple job offers with generous year-end bonuses. Younger users respond with oohs and aahs, remembering their childhoods, a time when China felt livelier, cozier and full of possibility.

The phrase expresses a longing for an era when China’s economy was roaring ahead and, for many, optimism was almost second nature.

It doubles as a commentary on the country’s mood today. It especially speaks to China’s younger generation, who are grappling with an economic slowdown, record youth unemployment