Sunday 15th of February 2026
Home » Blogs » Gus Leonisky's blog

the year of the horse....

The Spring Festival is the most important traditional festival for the Chinese people. As it approaches, the joy of reunion and anticipation for the future are transforming into the most vivid expressions across China: the millions of travelers heading home in the great Spring Festival migration, the bright red couplets adorning every household door, and the warm greetings of "Happy New Year" exchanged among neighbors.

 

The Spring Festival brings a touch of warmth to the world: Global Times editorial

By Global Times

 

Even if the year has carried its share of worries and hustle, come the Spring Festival, they are gently set aside. In the warmth of family reunions, people recharge and set off for the new year with renewed energy and a better outlook. 

On overseas social media platforms, the arrival of the Spring Festival has further fueled the trend of "becoming Chinese," with "spending Chinese New Year in China" emerging as a new fad among many foreign netizens. A recent article in Switzerland's Neue Zürcher Zeitung noted that when people mention China today, many immediately think of a certain atmosphere and lifestyle: "Chinese pop culture is currently experiencing its global breakthrough." 

From the blockbuster sales phenomenon of Black Myth: Wukong to the wildly popular trendy toy Labubu, Chinese culture is reaching the world in diverse forms. The New York Times observed that "the internet is embracing Chinese traditions, and influencers welcome them all." The Spring Festival is no longer just a holiday for the overseas Chinese ; it is gradually becoming a global cultural symbol.

The reason the Spring Festival can open doors across different cultures is that it touches the softest, most universal human longing for a better life deep in our hearts. For those foreigners attempting to "spend Chinese New Year in China," they may not understand the auspicious meanings behind the Chinese characters on the couplets, yet they can grasp the happiness of reunion. They may not know the cultural origins of customs like house cleaning, staying up all night on New Year's Eve, or paying respects during visits, yet they can feel the joy of bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new amid the festive bustle of lanterns and decorations. In a world where news headlines are so often dominated by division, estrangement, opposition, and conflict, the Spring Festival proves in the gentlest way that humanity's shared pursuit is always peace, goodness, and togetherness. This is not merely the export of culture - it is a heartfelt echo of universal human values.

Chinese civilization has long cherished the principle of "harmony is most precious" and "harmonious coexistence" - the philosophy permeates every detail of the Spring Festival. 

Families gather around the hearth for the New Year's Eve vigil, young and old alike sharing joy and warmth - this is the harmony of kinship. China's 56 ethnic groups celebrate the New Year together, each showcasing their unique customs while uniting in shared delight - this is the harmony of the nation. People around the world now partake in the festive spirit: Chinese dumplings and tangyuan enter homes abroad, while foreign blessings and goodwill flow back into China - each culture beautiful in its own way, coming together in mutual appreciation and harmony. The ideals of harmony, inclusiveness, and coexistence embodied in the Spring Festival not only nourish generations of Chinese people but also, in today's world full of uncertainties, offer humanity a source of warmth and resilient strength.

China's vibrant Spring Festival economy is also providing opportunities for the world. In the lead-up to the festival, international flight bookings to China surged more than 400 percent year-on-year, with Argentine visitors increasing ninefold and many European countries seeing growth exceeding 200 percent. Prime entry cities like Shanghai, Guangzhou, Beijing, and Chengdu faced hotel shortages, while in Shanghai, the daily salary for guides specializing in less common foreign languages has increased to 2,500 yuan ($362.28). The combination of favorable policies and cultural magnetism has given rise to "Spring Festival inbound tourism" as a new growth engine in the global travel market. At the same time, to catch the peak sales season of the Chinese Spring Festival, Kenyan fishermen are busier than usual catching golden crabs; in Chile, the cherry industry provides approximately 200,000 jobs locally each year, with 90 percent of its products exported to China. "Foreign New Year goods" are booming in China, which vividly illustrates the development logic of sharing and win-win outcomes. 

Moreover, the Spring Festival has integrated itself into the modern lives of young people worldwide in a strikingly cutting-edge and tech-savvy way.

Everyone still remembers how DeepSeek burst onto the scene and shook the world during last year's Spring Festival. Just before this year's festival, Seedance 2.0 left the world in awe - it's hard to just call that mere coincidence. After years of steady accumulation, China's homegrown innovation has entered an explosive gusher phase, and "Cool China" has become the fresh new impression the outside world has of the country. As a result, China's Spring Festival is growing ever "cooler" itself - it is evolving into a prime window for showcasing the nation's technological achievements. In fact, during last year's Spring Festival, robots were already appearing in large numbers at temple fairs and markets across the country. What "new tricks" will this year bring? The anticipation is high.

The Bingwu Year of the Horse is about to arrive. The horse symbolizes courage, wisdom, diligence, perseverance, and ambition. This surging "horsepower" is also the new momentum that China is conveying to the world. May this "thousand-mile steed" from the East carry the ancient wisdom of "harmonious coexistence" across mountains and seas, while also pulling the carriage of development forward - together with the world toward a future with less confrontation and more win-win outcomes.

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202602/1355364.shtml

 

 

YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT — SINCE 2005.

 

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.

 

 Illustration: Liu Rui/GT (DETAIL)

loneliness....

 

Winston Mok

A loneliness crisis is the price China is paying for rapid modernisation

 

China’s Spring Festival masks a deeper social problem. Beneath the world’s largest annual migration lies a growing crisis of loneliness shaped by migration, inequality and institutional design.

As the Year of the Snake ends, more than nine billion passenger journeys will unfold during China’s Spring Festival travel period, the greatest annual human migration on Earth. For some, these are the only few weeks in the year when families are together.

For many, this is a period when they can find temporary relief  from loneliness – from the striving and adjusting, even if not yet assimilating, in the cities where they work, far from their hometowns. The lucky ones, who can make ends meet and are not weighed down by economic pressures, can enjoy a moment of community before returning to a burdensome reality.

According to Gallup research from 2023, the prevalence of loneliness in China (23 per cent) was comparable to South Korea (21 per cent) and India (25 per cent) but much higher than Japan (14 per cent). Building on Gallup’s data and referencing a World Health Organization analysis of 23 data sets, The Economist recently highlighted China as  an exceptionally lonely place.

In the international context, further research is needed to ascertain if China is distinctly lonely. However, there is little doubt that loneliness is an important social issue in China.

China’s  one-child policy has been singled out as a cause of this wave of loneliness, but that might not hold in light of international comparisons. Japan, which has a comparable total fertility rate to China, is less lonely.

China’s gruelling  996 work culture – working 9am to 9pm six days a week, leaving little time for social life – is another commonly cited culprit. However, Japan was once famous for karoshi –  death from overwork – but is less lonely. In addition, both Japan and South Korea have introduced legislation that puts restrictions on the maximum hours for workers since 2018.

Japan and South Korea are much smaller countries than China, so  the family displacements during their modernisation could be more manageable. Many of the least lonely countries tend to be small, such as Singapore and Switzerland. That said, geographic scale alone cannot explain loneliness. Russia, with its vast territory, is far less lonely than China.

A better explanation for the phenomenon of loneliness in China could be found in the role of migrant labour and the hukou household registration system in the country’s industrialisation. Until their gradual automation and the widespread adoption of robots, China’s factories on the coast were powered by  migrant workers from inland provinces.

Given China’s hukou system, where migrants do not have access to essential social services reserved for locals, these workers move alone, leaving their  parents and children behind. Even married couples might not stay in the same city. Driven by job opportunities, they can end up in separate cities or even different provinces.

China’s loneliness crisis is the social price of rapid modernisation in a still-developing country which has a relentless drive for success but lacks the corresponding institutional development of more developed economies. China is growing old before it gets rich. As a result of China’s fragmented system, Shanghai hukou holders, for example, enjoy a high standard of healthcare while the levels of care provided in most rural regions are much lower.

Perhaps more important than how China is situated in the world loneliness map is the pattern within China. In a complex society spread across a vast territory, there is likely to be a wide  spectrum of loneliness.

https://johnmenadue.com/post/2026/02/a-loneliness-crisis-is-the-price-china-is-paying-for-rapid-modernisation/

 

========================

 

More than 40 percent of young Aussies are lonely, as experts call for National Loneliness Strategy

Experts say there's more we should be doing in Australia to address loneliness among young people.

 

Associate Professor Michelle Lim and Professor Ben Smith

 

For The Conversation

Loneliness is not a word often associated with young people. We tend to think of our youth as a time spent with family, friends and being engaged with school and work activities. Loneliness is an experience we may be more likely to associate with older people. \r\n

In a new report looking at loneliness in young Australians, we found 43 percent of people aged 15 to 25 feel lonely. That’s more than two in five young people. 

\r\n

While one in four felt lonely when asked, one in seven had felt lonely for at least two years (what we call persistent loneliness). 

\r\n

Key findings from the report were: 

\r\n
    \r\n
  • more than two in five young Australians feel lonely
    • \r\n
  • one in four experience episodic loneliness
    • \r\n
  • one in seven experience persistent loneliness lasting at least two years
    • \r\n
  • 18- to 25-year-olds are more likely to be persistently lonely compared to 15- to 17-year-olds.
    • \r\n
\r\n

There’s more we should be doing in Australia to address loneliness among young people and more broadly.

\r\nWhat else did we find?\r\n

In this report, we analysed data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey from 2022–23. This helped us understand what sort of factors increase the risk of loneliness among young people.

\r\n

We found having poor physical health and mental health can double (or more) the likelihood of persistent loneliness among young people. 

\r\n

Life circumstances, as well as socioeconomic and behavioural factors, also play a role, as shown below.

\r\n"}}">

Loneliness is not a word often associated with young people. We tend to think of our youth as a time spent with family, friends and being engaged with school and work activities. Loneliness is an experience we may be more likely to associate with older people. 

In a new report looking at loneliness in young Australians, we found 43 percent of people aged 15 to 25 feel lonely. That’s more than two in five young people. 

While one in four felt lonely when asked, one in seven had felt lonely for at least two years (what we call persistent loneliness). 

Key findings from the report were: 

  • more than two in five young Australians feel lonely
  • one in four experience episodic loneliness
  • one in seven experience persistent loneliness lasting at least two years
  • 18- to 25-year-olds are more likely to be persistently lonely compared to 15- to 17-year-olds.

There’s more we should be doing in Australia to address loneliness among young people and more broadly.

What else did we find?

In this report, we analysed data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey from 2022–23. This helped us understand what sort of factors increase the risk of loneliness among young people.

https://www.sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2025/08/04/more-than-40-percent-of-young-aussies-are-lonely-as-experts-call-for-national-loneliness-strategy.html

 

READ FROM TOP.

 

YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT — SINCE 2005.

 

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.