Behind the Rise of Guochao: Rediscovering the tradition

The Year of the Loong, or Dragon, brings some new trends. 

For the first time, Spring Festival, the most important festival of the Chinese people, has become an event for the whole world. 

How? At the end of last year, it was listed officially by the United Nations as a 'floating holiday' – the eighth to be observed by UN staff internationally, with meetings discouraged during that period. It's a move welcomed by a number of countries that celebrate the New Year according to the lunar calendar. 

In China, a new fashion swept the younger generation during the family reunion season. The new social media buzzword was Xinzhongshi, or New Chinese Pattern. 

With this trend, young people everywhere would dress in traditional Hanfu clothes, or those designed with typical traditional aesthetics, while wearing Chinese-style makeup, with a cup of tea-flavored beverage in hand. 

At the annual Spring Festival Gala, tradition prevails. Hanfu, Tang poetry reciting, Chinese kung fu, traditional dance... programs featuring Chinese symbols dominated and won the most applause. 

It seems the Guochao trend has gone into overdrive.

So what is Guochao? And why is it suddenly sweeping everything? It's time to find out more.

China-chic: A trend starts with clothes

It's rarely known outside of China how significant fashion once was in the core of Chinese culture. According to the archives, the ancient name of China, Huaxia, refers to "the beauty in the clothing" and "the greatness of the etiquettes."

The first tide in the rise of Guochao (literally 'national trend') came with the revival of the clothes. The traditional Hanfu garments, worn by the ancient Han Chinese for thousands of years, used to evolve in styles from dynasty to dynasty, before gradually fading out of daily life after the collapse of the Ming Dynasty in the 17th Century. 

At the beginning of the 21st Century, a small group of people set out to revive it in modern society. By researching historic records, ancient paintings and archeological findings, the enthusiastic young people managed to restore the traditional cultures step by step.

After two decades, Hanfu has become a fashion firmly established among the younger generation. They wear diverse styles of traditional clothes while out with friends, going to work, traveling and posing for photos, and at weddings.

Industries related to the revival of Hanfu – from dress designing and making to related industries such as Hanfu-styled tourism, photography, film and television, games and cartoons – have reached $1.8 billion, and the market size is expected to exceed $2.7 billion by 2025. 

In east China's Shandong Province, the small county of Caoxian has made its name nationwide for producing Hanfu. As of 2023, at least 100,000 people were working in Hanfu-related industries there, with its turnover reaching $1 billion, accounting for 40 percent of the Hanfu market share. 

A rising tide raising all boats

However, the rise of Guochao is not limited to clothes. Its effects reach many industries. 

In the beauty business, domestic brands like Florasis and Perfect Diary are rising with short video platforms and livestream shopping to seize the market from dominant Western luxury brands such as Dior, YSL and Chanel. 

In architecture and interior decoration, designers are being inspired by ancient furniture, paintings and styles. Urban planners, instead of building new skyscrapers, started to shift their focus to preserving the ancient heritage and incorporating traditional Chinese architecture in their designs.

The trend also extends into lifestyle. Tea houses, considered old-school and left in oblivion for many years, start to unleash new vitality. Sitting around a stove and boiling tea has become popular at socials with friends. Even the new coffee brands are starting to blend tea flavors into coffee. 

Over the years, starting from relative obscurity, the Guochao trend has gradually become dominant in modern Chinese life. It's not just about rediscovering history and tradition; more importantly, it's about how the past is blending into the present, and how the old is reshaping the new.

How is Gen-Z related to the rise of Guochao?

On closer examination, behind the explosion of Guochao is the younger generations, especially Generation Z.

Born between 1995 and 2009, their population currently stands at around 260 million – nearly a fifth of China's 1.4 billion population. As in many rising consumer cultures, Gen-Z is usually labeled as the generation of the digital native – the tech-savvy "affluent generation."

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They were born in China's fastest economic booming period, and grew up in a country that was already the second largest economy. The country they are familiar with is a wealthier, stronger and more open one, which provides them with a broader, comprehensive and inclusive view of the world. 

Instead of looking up to imported brands, they tend to evaluate products and cultures from an even and equal point of view. Instead of paying the brand premium, they would rather pay for the design, quality and cultural connotation. 

With a global horizon, they are more aware of national identity. With technology and modernity taken as an automatic part of the world, they value even more of the tradition and history.

Data shows that the level of interest in Guochao – as measured by the Baidu search engine – has skyrocketed by 528 percent compared with a decade earlier. First-quarter sales of products featuring Chinese chic increased by 326 percent between 2022 and 2023. Overall, 78.5 percent of online consumers prefer Chinese brands, which now account for 74 percent of total sales.

No one knows how far Guochao will extend, and into what realms. Or whether the time-honored brands, and the new startups with domestic products, will go from strength to strength or just be a flash in the pan…

But with the awakening admiration of tradition and history, the ancient cultures will no doubt continue to rejuvenate. 

Supervisor: Mei Yan

Chief Editor: Qian Fang

Presenter: Li Jianhua

Producer: Ai Yan

Camera/Video Editing: Tom Triebel

Script Editor: Elizabeth Mearns

Motion Graphics: Butchy Davy, James Sandifer, Ilze Juhnevica

Copy Editor: Gary Parkinson

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