China | Gong, beds and candles: young people chase away stress with naps

(Beijing) Soft lighting, sofa beds and soothing bells: during lunch break in a relaxation institute in Beijing, Xuan Yi, often exhausted like many young Chinese people under pressure, finally manages to fall asleep.

The young woman is one of some 300 million Chinese suffering from insomnia, the result in particular of the stress generated by their jobs in the country’s large, densely populated cities.

Xuan Yi (pronounced “Suane-Yi”) had tried everything so far to sleep better, from consulting a psychologist to essential oils, she explains to AFP.

“I felt a lot of pressure at the office. Sometimes, because I had a lot of work, or because I was anxious, I only fell asleep at 2 or 3 in the morning. And I have to get up at 7 a.m. to start working again,” she explains.

“I also worked weekends. So for a long time, I didn’t sleep well. »

But in the “sound healing” workshop run by the owner Li Yan, once the curtains are drawn and the “singing bowls”, small upside-down bells, begin to diffuse their gentle vibrations, the young woman s ‘dozed off without difficulty.

“Recharge your battery”

To the sound of a gong, a “rain stick” or even a “handpan”, instruments broadcasting soothing sounds, Xuan Yi and the other participants in the session fall into a sweet sleep.

Fifty minutes later, by candlelight, they get up, most relieved of their stress, all at a cost of 180 yuan ($34) per session.

“Dozens of people who are a little tense come to lie down here. They want to give their brain a little break,” Li Yan (pronounced “Li Iène”) explains to AFP.

“It’s like recharging your phone battery from 3% to 100%. »

They tell him about the “pressure”, the “anxiety” or the “insomnia” they are experiencing, she explains.

She says she often receives calls from clients who are at the end of their tether.

“They tell me: I need to come right away, in half an hour, I’m so tired,” says Li Yan.

Many of them work in new technologies and the Internet, a sector where the rate of people affected by depression and anxiety is among the highest in the country, according to a national health report.

A luxury

She calls her sessions “tangping concerts,” after a popular expression in recent years in China. It literally means “to lie on one’s back”, but can be translated as “renunciation”: giving up a great career, money, to concentrate on a simple life.

Surrounded by office buildings in central Beijing, Li Yan’s relaxation workshop offers time slots adapted to the busy schedules of young, active urbanites.

“A lot of emotions and problems come to the surface and people need to face their inner self,” says Li Yan.

In a country where many turn to video games or shopping to unwind, “relaxation and happiness are a luxury.”

For Xuan Yi, the money spent on these sessions is worth it.

“If I didn’t pay for these relaxation sessions, maybe I would have to pay a doctor” to treat me, she philosophizes.