Xinhua | October 24, 2024
Many young people in China are leveraging their talents and skills to broaden professional horizons. By turning to side gigs, they are converting passions into income streams to seek more fulfilling lives.
Beijing resident and video producer Zhao Chengzhu, 30, has turned his passion for music into a robust side hustle. Thanks to years of efforts to hone skills as a choral instructor, he now provides vocal training and facilitates choral practice in universities, companies and organizations to prepare people for competitions or performances. This side business can generate a monthly income of up to 10,000 yuan (1,403 U.S. dollars).
For those who find that regular full-time jobs no longer meet their financial goals or align with their personal aspirations, they create additional opportunities by merging passion with purpose, and demonstrate that side jobs can lead to enriching experiences and enhanced personal fulfillment.
"Engaging in activities you love alleviates daily stress, brings a deep sense of accomplishment, and creates a rewarding balance between work and personal fulfillment," Zhao said.
According to a report from the 36Kr media platform that surveyed 1,941 young employees, 44.7 percent have experience with side jobs and over 50 percent expressed interest in pursuing one, even if they had not yet done so. Notably, nearly 40 percent of the respondents' side hustles are related to their primary jobs.
Over 80 percent of young people favor online opportunities for these additional jobs. Self-media leads the way as the most popular work category, with e-commerce, street vending and small-scale retail, freelance writing, and video editing and voiceover work rounding out the top five, per the report.
In Jingdezhen, known as China's "porcelain capital" and located in the country's eastern Jiangxi Province, 35-year-old Qiu Xingzhu runs a street vendor business with her husband outside their regular work hours, operating primarily on weekends on the popular Taoxichuan Ceramic Art Avenue.
"Our ceramic products are becoming increasingly popular among tourists and other customers, with many coming to Jingdezhen specifically for our items. As a result, we often find ourselves selling until two or three in the morning," she said.
Qiu, a graduate of the esteemed Jingdezhen Ceramic University, works in design during the weekdays.
Operating a street vendor business comes with relatively low costs as there are no store rental fees, Qiu noted. She said that the market attracts a great many art students, ceramics enthusiasts and master potters, fostering a vibrant environment for the exchange of insights and experience.
The Taoxichuan market has drawn significant attention through the Xiaohongshu lifestyle-sharing platform, where tens of thousands of posts showcase Jingdezhen ceramics. This popularity has attracted ongoing interest in the creative and elegant pieces crafted by artisans like Qiu.
Many side hustle vendors have adapted to the digital landscape by promoting and selling their work through livestreaming and social media, broadening their reach.
Wang Xianbin, a professor of economics at Jinan University in south China's Guangzhou, attributes the rise of side gigs largely to the rapid growth of the digital economy, emerging technologies and platform-based businesses.
The employment landscape has become more flexible and diverse, providing young people with a wealth of potential flexible job opportunities -- but this also means they may face intensified job competition and greater career development instability, Wang added.
The government and online platforms should actively support the accelerating side hustle trend, said Tan Youchao, a professor of management at Jinan University. Tan noted that online platforms can innovate to provide more high-quality opportunities for young people, and that the government should offer appropriate support and policy guidance.
Experts say that side gigs are here to stay. "As digital platforms continue to evolve, we will see more young people leverage technology to create flexible, part-time jobs that align with their interests and skills," Wang said. "This empowers individuals and contributes to the broader economy."
Looking ahead, Qiu aims to continue her work on ceramics and transform her creativity from a side hustle into a full-time venture.