In China, the number of street vending businesses has been booming.

In the capital of Beijing, this street stall market is bustling with people even at 10 PM.

More than 900 street vendors crowd the area, selling products on tables and plastic sheets.

The diverse items range from daily necessities obtained from wholesalers

to handmade accessories and trinkets.

Currently, roughly 30 million people work as street vendors all over the country.

Many of them are young Chinese people who were laid off or failed to find jobs.

I'm jobless, so I've got nothing to do.

I have to earn money from selling
on the street. I have no choice.

My generation is the unluckiest.

Street vending is popular.

The economy is bad, and everyone
does it to earn extra money.

The Chinese economy plummeted during the zero-COVID policy

and due to worsening Sino-US relations.

Youth unemployment has reached a record high of 20%.

For young people who lost jobs or income, street vending poses a new opportunity.

Some people consider this move a positive transition in their lives.

Leaving the IT industry, I realized
I can do so much on my own.

As many industries struggle,
I see opportunities in street vending.

Due to a range of circumstances, many young Chinese people are now turning to street vending.

In this episode, we depict their present and look toward the possible future.

For more than two decades, China enjoyed over 7% annual economic growth

to become the world's second largest economy.

But young people are facing the worst unemployment rate in recent history,

affected by the outbreak of COVID-19.

This is the Pan Jia Yuan Antique Market, located in central Beijing.

With a history of more than 30 years, it's China's largest antique market.

On a 48,000 square-meter plot of land, statues, jade, and old tools are on sale.

From the evening, the wares and vendors undergo a change.

The government has extended the closing time here from 8pm to midnight.

Most of the nighttime vendors are in their 20s.

Every night, more than 25,000 customers flood the market.

Hello, everyone. I'm at the stalls.

Oh, am I being recorded?

There are so many people here.

I'm selling hand-knit bags again.

How many can I sell?
I'll do my best.

Bu Yang began uploading videos of her street vending activities in May, 2023.

Her booth attracts many customers with her colorful handknit bags and lively hawking.

She makes about 800 US dollars a month.

Bu, who hails from Hebei Province, was previously in charge of developing content

at a major video streaming company.

She had been satisfied with her work, but was suddenly laid off seven months ago.

There was almost no one left
in my division.

I felt an indescribable dread.
I didn't know what to do.

I felt intimidated looking at skyscrapers.

It affected my health.
I was constantly nauseous.

After debating between finding another corporate job or starting her own business,

she chose street vending, which requires little investment.

She uploaded to social media her emotional journey from losing her job to starting her stall.

When HR called me, I was shocked.
I couldn't escape the layoffs.

I think all IT firms end with restructuring.
I felt so insecure.

I'm from a farming village.

My job paid US$2,500 a month.
This money is important for me.

I was raised by a single mother,
so I wanted to build her a big house.

I may get knocked down by life.

But I'm going to fight back.

I'll upload videos, and open a street stall.

An employee of a major company who had seemed all but assured an upper-class life,

suddenly becoming a street vendor.

Many people empathized with her dramatic life story, which went viral.

She was flooded with requests for interviews and offers to open shop at street vending events.

I felt truly alive!

I also met people who were
completely different from me.

At my corporate job, I only knew people
from my own department.

I worked like a robot everyday
doing the same thing.

Reports, data analysis, and meetings.
That's all I did all day.

After work, I couldn't leave the office
until my boss left.

Amidst layoffs, you can't look idle.
You have to pretend to be busy.

For me, street vending was the antidote.

Seeing her success, a major IT company recently approached Bu about a position.

But she decided to continue street vending all the same.

Leaving the IT industry, I realized
I can do so much on my own.

I think being laid off gave me
good opportunities.

The high youth unemployment rate is to some extent related to Chinese government policies.

In 2021, the Xi Jinping administration tightened regulations for major IT firms

in order to "curb the disorderly expansion of capital."

This occurred under a policy aiming to fix the income gap.

As a result, IT firms - which employ many young graduates

- were forced to downsize and restructure, leading to massive layoffs.

China announces its unemployment rate in two categories:

For those aged 16 to 24 and those aged 25 to 59.

The unemployment rate is over 20% for those under 25 years old,

compared with 4.2% for those over 25.

The record high shocked society as a whole.

In China, when companies lay off employees, they're required to pay severance,

which depends on the number of years worked.

That's why companies choose to lay off younger workers with fewer years of employment.

As unemployment surged, in December 2022 the government re-approved street vending businesses,

which were once prohibited due to security and effects on the urban landscape.

As a result, jobless youths rushed to the streets to gain income.

At the Pan Jia Yuan Market, one stall is especially crowded with customers.

This is a tarot reader, a new type of business not seen at the market before.

Stall owner Xue Yu also came here after being laid off from a corporate job.

What do you want to know today?

I want to know about my future career,
and romantic relationships.

Your work will be...
You're very busy.

But this is a good opportunity for you.

So it's okay to keep my current job?

Yes.

In rapidly shifting China, some people who have lost their way turn to tarot cards for answers about their future.

Many people ask about their careers
or academic paths.

I began this as my main income in March.
It's not much, but it's stable.

I hardly use any money.
I only have as much as I earn.

Xue previously worked at an event organizing company, which went sour due to the pandemic.

She was laid off in May 2022.

Xue says the sudden change left her emotionally broken.

I actually suffered from depression last year.
I didn't know if I was sick.

It was really bad, like death
was hanging over me.

I didn't really want to die,
I just had no will to live.

A concerned friend brought Xue to the market to take her mind off things.

That friend suggested I read the tarot here.

There's no overhead cost,
so I thought I'd try it.

Xue took what had been a hobby and turned it into this new business at her friend's suggestion.

However, she had another reason for starting the work.

She hoped to realize her childhood dream - a becoming a scriptwriter.

There's another merit to being a tarot reader.

I can observe people's lives
to help become a scriptwriter.

Tarot reading is a side gig.
Writing will be my main job.

It's going to rain.

Oh no!

Let's get out of here.

Xue is now working toward making her dream a reality.

But she holds some concerns for the future.

- Has it rained like this before?
- It's the first time.

If you weren't here, I'd really feel down.

Street vendors all understand each other.
We're in the same boat.

Sweet watermelon juice, anyone?

A short distance away from the Pan Jia Yuan Market is a new street stall area

dedicated to foods and drinks.

This market also attracted many young merchants who lost stable jobs

and are now trying to get back on their feet.

- What's this?
- A chicken thigh.

I'll take four.

Zang Yuyang, from Inner Mongolia, opened a Japanese-style yakitori street stall in April.

His biggest selling point is the fresh ingredients.

I come here because it's tasty.

It's the cleanest of all shops around here.
I feel safe.

Zang operates his location from 6 PM to midnight.

As word spread quickly about his tasty food, his stall is always crowded with regulars.

There used to be a yakitori shop there.

But their business went south since I came.
They now sell sausages and such.

Today 80% of customers were regulars,
while 20% were first-timers.

He makes $50 in profits a night.

Every night, this is my last customer.

I always give the dog my leftovers.

We're friends. She's always waiting for me.

Zang now lives alone in an apartment in the suburbs of Beijing.

His rent is $550 dollars.

Although the stall is enjoying strong sales,

Zang's profit margin is low, due to rising ingredient costs.

Currently he's just scraping by.

Zang used to work as a cook at a high-end Japanese restaurant in Beijing,

earning 2,000 dollars a month.

That's three times the average salary of his friends back home in Inner Mongolia.

I brought this case home from Tokyo.

When Zang got his job ten years ago,

Japanese food was amassing popularity among health-conscious people.

Being a cook at a Japanese restaurant was a highly sought-after position.

I bought this knife for $1,700.

I got this one from an auction.
It's for peeling Japanese radishes.

- You bought this just to cut radish?
- It's especially for that.

However, the restaurant shut down due to the pandemic.

Zang lost his job and still hasn't been paid for seven months' worth of salary.

A month after being laid off,
I made my first profit at my stall.

I was so happy.

I realized I could earn money
without being hired by someone.

I never thought I'd run a street stall.

But now this is my only choice.
I also realized there's nothing I can't do.

I discarded my shame and pridefulness.

Zang now dreams of opening his own restaurant.

Why such a simple lunch?

I'm cutting costs.
Trying to save as much as I can.

Some want to eat delicacies,
others just to feel full.

While many young people came here after being laid off,

some voluntarily quit jobs at major companies.

Lu Hao, 39, held major responsibility as a manager at China's largest IT firm.

Today, he runs a small stall selling accessories at the Pan Jia Yuan Market.

He's sharing the stall with a store owner he met there.

When we first met, we made
bad impressions on each other.

- Well, he...
- Go ahead. Be honest.

He seemed arrogant.

When I asked him what he was selling,
he brushed me off.

But when he saw my bustling sales,
suddenly he called me "sister."

When Lu was working in IT as the leading sales rep,

he was in charge of marketing for new businesses.

But tighter government regulations made it difficult for the company's projects.

Feeling stuck, he turned to street vending.

Lu wants to pursue the possibilities of the entire street vending industry, not just his own store.

Whenever I'm here, I look for new
shopkeepers selling new products.

It gives me ideas for new things
that could be popular.

I also say hello to shop owners I know.

There are lots of shops, aren't there?

Hello.

Hi. How's business?

Not good with this rain.

I think street vending has the most potential.

By jumping into this industry,
I wanted to know what the owners were like.

I can also learn about customer needs.

While running street stalls, Lu also works as a freelance career consultant using his past experience.

He happened to meet a woman who wants to begin teaching English.

How about a stall? Many university
students go to street stalls.

I think that's your major target audience.

English lessons suit the stall business model,
although I've never seen them there.

I've never even considered
teaching there.

Think outside the box.
You can meet people and network.

Okay. I'll think of it that way.

Will street vendor businesses
become a different working model?

Can it give young people a new way of life?

As many industries struggle,
I see opportunities in street vending.

I'm expecting lots of challenges,
but I want to give it my best shot.

Yakitori shop owner Zang has an important errand to run before going to his shop today.

He heads to labor court.

There is a hearing to discuss whether unpaid wages from his former employer should be paid out.

He's the owner of my previous workplace.

It's my first time in a labor arbitration.

I never thought I'd ever head to court.
That was a world away.

I didn't think it'd happen to me.

Zang is owed over $40,000 in unpaid wages.

In the six months before the store went under,

Zang was working hard with the owner to keep the business afloat.

But he discovered that the owner had secretly filed for bankruptcy

to avoid being held responsible.

For Zang, being betrayed was even worse than losing his job.

I don't know if he'll really pay me.

I'm not hurrying. I've waited this long.
I don't mind waiting another six months.

This August, the Chinese government made a new statement.

Starting in August, we won't announce the
unemployment rates for any age groups.

The government has yet to take clear measures to combat rising youth unemployment.

Meanwhile, tarot reader Xue has taken steps toward her new aspiration.

Hello.

She's participating in stage rehearsals.

She decided to help with the stage production in order to study scriptwriting.

Through tarot reading, I learned
that many people are persevering.

Even with no job, through my stall
I was able to boost my motivation.

Street vending holds the potential to bring hope to young people

in place of the stability they've lost.

At the Pan Jia Yuan Market, young people warmly greet their customers,

as they progress on their own unique journeys.