Take that! Young people hit back at life

Anger rooms help visitors relieve their frustrations

When Li Chao was fired one month before his wedding because his boss said the computer program he helped code "didn't meet the client's requirements", his first urge was to smash his work computer in anger.

"For the previous six months, I have worked on this program from 9 am to 9 pm, six days a week. My meals every day were mostly fast-food takeouts and snacks, but hard work just doesn't pay off, right?" the 33-year-old said.

Li, who was expecting a bonus from the program to pay for his wedding in Datong, his hometown in Shanxi province, said that after being fired, a computer screen, mouse and keyboard were the last things he wanted to see.

But he also believes "mature adults should never lose their temper at work". So, after a few hours spent packing and saying goodbye to his colleagues, Li took the subway from his workplace to the 798 Art Zone in northeast Beijing, where there is an "anger room".

Paying 158 yuan ($22) for a 30-minute session, he let off steam in a concrete-walled room by swinging a baseball bat at used computers and hurling beer bottles into the corners.

After, Li, who smashed more than 50 bottles, three keyboards and two computer screens, said he felt "pleased, calm and utterly triumphant".

Young people in China are increasingly venting their frustration and easing pressure in places such as anger rooms, smashing not only bottles but also plastic fashion mannequins to release tension.

Smash, the anger room Li visited, is the first such venue in Beijing. It is equipped with baseball bats and hammers to enable the users to release their frustration by breaking objects. Put simply, it is a place to have a smashing time at the expense of items, including plates, bottles, tables and electrical equipment, by hurling them at the wall.

Jin Meng, 25, who launched Smash last year, has built a monthly customer base of more than 600 visitors eager to relieve pressure.

She said: "One woman brought her wedding photos here and tore them all up. We welcome people bringing their stuff here to vent their anger, because we also see it as a place to say goodbye to a particular stage in life.

"Of course, we won't invade people's privacy, but we think that this woman had just broken up with her husband before she came here. Every time we come across this kind of situation, it makes us think that we are providing a safe place for people to release negative energy - and we are happy about that."

Jin said the anger room is not intended to promote violence, but to reduce stress in a city such as Beijing, where people are under mounting pressure.

A 16-year-old high school student visited the room because he was angry over "weird" regulations at school. He said, "It feels so good when I destroy those bottles and watch them shatter."

Zhuo Hanjing, a manager at the venue, said people like smashing televisions most "because it feels really good when you first break the screen and then the whole set".

"Fashion mannequins are also popular, with many people using marker pens to write the names of their bosses or former partners on them before smashing them.

"There are many people who need an outlet away from work or family pressures. A lot of people work out every day, or pray or meditate, but there are others who like to break stuff. That first time you smash a bottle, you'll just 'get it'."

In many fast-paced cities such as Beijing, rapid development has resulted in high stress levels. The pressure to succeed is extremely high for both students and working adults.

According to a Working in Asia survey conducted by international leadership institute Roffey Park in 2017, some 40 percent of employees on the Chinese mainland and 45 percent in Hong Kong said they work more than 50 hours a week - with only 2 percent in each jurisdiction working less than 32 hours weekly.

Another report, published by the Institute of Psychology at the China Academy of Sciences last year, showed a general decline in the national mental health index among young Chinese, followed by an uptick among adults.

Such reports have inspired people like Jin to find new ways to capitalize on the mounting pressure faced by young people living in urban areas.

Last year, Museums of Lost Relationships, launched by a company called Mr. Lovelorn in many Chinese cities, were such a success that the company quickly opened new locations in some 20 other areas, including Beijing and Tianjin.

The museums were the brainchild of the company's director, Zhu Zhaowei, who said he sympathized with young people who felt "lost" after romantic breakups, and he "wanted to create a place that provided an opportunity for catharsis."

"With pressure from society and work, more young people, especially Generation Z (those reaching adulthood in the second decade of this century), are more open and tend to express themselves, and they want to find an outlet for their emotions," Zhu said.

A cigarette lighter, a handbag, a facial massager and a smartphone case are among the items on display at the museum in Beijing. They are placed alongside accounts of broken romances, including one that states: "You were too sweet for me and not meant for me. I didn't like you that much when you asked me to start dating, but I complied." The account is placed next to a worn-out key ring.

Reading it, a couple in their 20s had different reactions - the woman burst out laughing, while her partner appeared to be uncomfortable.

At the end of their visit, the couple wrote in the museum's guest book: "Stop thinking about your past. Seize the moment and live a wonderful life."

Zhu said he was inspired to launch his venture after visiting an exhibition in Shanghai last year staged by the Museum of Broken Relationships from Zagreb, the Croatian capital.

"I thought it was a fantastic idea, but it was mostly about people overseas and lacked a sense of reality" for Chinese visitors, he said. His company, Mr. Lovelorn, is not related to the Croatian museum.

"We hope that our museum can help soothe those who are hurt and also overcome emotional barriers," Zhu said.

Some of the items displayed at the company's museums - mainly acquired through donations - at first glance appear to be mundane objects from daily life. "Young people's love can be intense, and a breakup may lead to depression for many," Zhu said. "We can help provide some psychological counseling for them, as we also cooperate with some professional institutions."

According to the latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics and the Ministry of Civil Affairs, there were more than 240 million single adults in China last year. Over 77 million of them were living alone and just 7.2 percent later married, the lowest proportion in nearly 10 years. Some 92 percent said they did not really enjoy being single.

A report last year by research agency Trendsbigger said "emotional business" was one of the top 10 consumption trend phrases. With the pace of life getting ever faster, more people are looking to release their negative emotional energy through consumption.

There are seven such venues in Beijing catering to them, including Smash, Weird Decompression Shop and Gentle Decompression Studio. In second-and third-tier cities, countless museums are devoted to broken relationships, and there have been more than 660 million searches on the short-video site Douyin for "museum of broken relationships".

According to a report this year by the social media app Tan Tan, just over 72 percent of young urban workers spend more than a quarter of their monthly pay on rent or mortgages.

Sixty percent of young people feel depressed and sometimes block their parents from seeing their social media content. The top five categories they don't want their parents to see are: content that is too emotional; not having a good day at work; physical pain, going out late at night; and making controversial remarks.

Jin, the Smash founder, said the company's main clients are age 20 to 35 and they are mainly students, or work in internet technology or advertising.

Zhu said the museum in Beijing attracts 400 to 500 people a day, including several migrant workers wearing hard hats, who have experienced broken relationships. Some people older than 60 or 70 also visit the venue, either alone or with their partners.

Fu Xiaoguang, an associate professor of media studies at the Communication University of China, said life in first-tier cities can be stressful, so consumers will look for different ways to release frustration, anger or sadness over jobs, relationships, family, or all of these factors.

"There will always be businesspeople who will profit from emotions amid urbanization and economic development," Fu added.