Das Leben ist in China surreal geworden

The popularity of Labubus appear to be a sign of China’s global success. At home, however, the government is working to dampen the enthusiasm, Michael Schuman reports.

Many of the figurines are sold in “blind boxes,” meaning that the consumer gets to see the contents only after purchase. An article in China’s main newspaper, the People’s Daily, criticized the “out of control spending” on blind boxes and similar products among minors who are “irrational” in their decisions, and called for tighter regulation to prevent such objects from becoming “tools to exploit children’s wallets.”

Labubus are but one cultural trend to incur the Communist Party’s ire. “In recent years, Chinese authorities have gone after video games and K-pop, comedy clubs and Halloween parties, gay and lesbian activists and women’s-rights advocates, tech entrepreneurs and financial advisers. The incessant crackdowns, and the campaigns of censorship or censoriousness, suggest that the Chinese regime is intent on not just eliminating opposition, but also micromanaging its people’s lifestyles, consumption, and beliefs,” Schulman argues.

At the link in our bio, Schuman reports from Beijing on how the Chinese Communist Party has grown more insistent on a reality at odds with people’s experience, all while the state intrudes more and more into daily life.

Read more: [https://theatln.tc/tiAvi3rt](https://theatln.tc/tiAvi3rt)

—Mariana Labbate, assistant editor, audience, *The Atlantic*

I would argue life is far far more surreal in the United States right now.