Chinese millennials have replaced 'lying flat' with simply 'letting it rot' — a darkly funny, laissez-faire rejection of competition and the work force

• Young Chinese people are protesting unattainable life goals and hustle culture by "letting it rot."
• It's an evolution of 2021's "lying flat" trend, but with more nihilist overtones.
• The trend isn't about doing the bare minimum to get by, it's about openly leaning into "rot."

If you remember the 2021 trend of Chinese millennials "lying flat" in protest of hyper-competition and in defense of rest and relaxation, you've been prepped for its cousin — the slightly darker trend of "letting it rot."

"Let it rot," or bailan (摆烂) in Mandarin, is being used by disaffected young Chinese Gen Z-ers and millennials to describe the mindset of leaning into self-indulgence and open decay and away from life expectations that seem neither meaningful nor attainable.

This new term, dually playful and nihilistic, describes giving up and giving into a hopeless situation and reportedly comes from a passive strategy in basketball. Bailan refers to when a losing team stops trying to win in order to more rapidly bring a game to its end.

To express their commitment to the bailan lifestyle, many are sharing photos to Xiaohongshu, China's Instagram-like platform, depicting rest, fatigue, and sadness with the bailan hashtag alongside #tired and #f—- it, and encouraging "everyday decadence" and rotting together. The hashtag has more than 2.3 million results on the platform.

China's young people are facing overwhelming and disheartening headwinds — including an 18.7% youth unemployment rate in August, housing prices that can cost 14 times the average salary, a complex dating environment, and the prospect of caring for their elderly parents while potentially also childrearing.

When "lying flat" participants pushed for pared-back goals — ideologically similar to "quiet quitting" — people who '"let it rock" are fast-tracking entropy.

In 2021, Yubo Li, a freelance designer, digital artist, and "lying flat" practitioner, told Insider he knew taking a corporate job would mean more money and better housing and food. But the trade-off — sleeping three hours a day and negligible free time — wasn't worth it. "Now my simple bowls of noodles taste good, and my bed is soft enough. I see no reason to try harder."

Bailan responds to many of the same fundamental issues — it's a protest against hyper-competition and watching friends work themselves to death in a "9-9-6" work culture exasperated by a shrinking labor market. But where "lying flat" aims to restructure the present, bailan seems to be a feeling of paralysis in the face of an unchangeable and unsatisfactory future.

Economists have expressed concern that the trend could hurt an already slowing economy and further impact an already record-low birthrate. "Maybe there is just a small group of people who are truly 'letting it rot'' but when a buzz phrase is exaggerated on social media, it creates a social atmosphere, and that could be enough to make an impact," Fudan University professor Shi Lei told the outlet.

Nevertheless, the phrase continues to resonate with many.

Yan Jie, a Shanghai-based IT worker, told the South China Morning Post, said the phrase perfectly encapsulates his waning work ethic.

"When I am given an assignment at work, I try to avoid it," he told the outlet. "If I am forced to do the work, I will do it but inadequately."