30 China The EconomistAugust 17th 2019
2P
erchedoncliffsabove a river, Hong-
yadong is a stilt-house complex in
mock-traditional style in the city of
Chongqing.Itsbars,restaurants and gold-
enneonlights(pictured)have been a pop-
ulardrawsinceitwasbuilt in 2006. Last
yearthenumberofvisitors surged.
Themainreason,itseemed, was Hong-
yadong’ssuddenpopularity on a social-
mediaapp,Douyin,whichis used for shar-
ingphotographsand15-second videos. By
theendoftheyearthewaiting time to get in
was three hours. For a while Hongya-
dong—ajollyenoughplace but hitherto on
fewpeople’sbucketlists—became the big-
gestattractioninChinaafter the Forbidden
City,saysMafengwo,a travel website.
Socialmediahavetransformed tourism
worldwide.Insteadof having fun, some
people now flock to remote strawberry
farmsorIcelandicfjordsto take photos to
impresstheirfriendsonInstagram. For-
eign-operatedsocial-media sites, includ-
ingInstagram,areblocked in China. But
domesticonesarehugelypopular. Douyin,
launchedin2016,has230m monthly active
users(itsowner,ByteDance, has an uncen-
soredversionoftheappfor users outside
China,calledTikTok).Unlike users of In-
stagram,whomainlybrowse feeds of pic-
tures posted by people they follow,
Douyin’sfanscommonlyuse the app to
watchhot-trendingvideos posted by users
theydonotknowundercategories such as
“food”and“scenicspots”.
Uploading apicture or video from aphotogenic spot to sites such as Douyin
and Kuaishou is known in China as daka,
meaning “punching the card”. The word is
also used to refer to the practice of register-
ing your presence at a location that has al-
ready become hot, such as Hongyadong.
The aim is not to produce a well-crafted
video or beautiful photograph, but simply
to show that you have also been to the
places that are popular. The beauty of the
attraction is less important than the fact
that people are flocking there to daka.
A subculture has developed of young
people who embrace dakaas a lifestyle. So-
called daka zu—“daka tribes”—can be
found roaming Chongqing and other cit-
ies, checking in at as many hot locations as
possible within a single day. Guides can be
found online, to show the most efficient
ways to achieve this. Companies offer
“dakatours”. Douyin users can use the app
to create “dakavideos”: super-speed slide-
shows of themselves at dakasites.Riding the tide
Just as shops and restaurants in other
countries try to attract customers with dec-
orations that might be a backdrop for Insta-
grammable pictures, those in China try to
make themselves as daka-friendly as possi-
ble: a coffee shop in Beijing built inside a
shipping container, for example. Having
enjoyed a surge of Douyin-inspired custom
for as little as a month or so, some busi-
nesses close up shop and move elsewhere
to capture another wave.
The dakacraze may have practical ori-
gins. China’s young urban professionals
have little vacation time. In their first year
at a company, employees can expect at
most one day of vacation (other than public
holidays). They are routinely expected to
work overtime for no pay. So workers need
to make the most of their limited leisure
time. Douyin captures the mood with its
slogan: “Make every second count.” 7CHONGQING
Forsome,theaimoftravel is to create
15-secondvideosSocialmediaDakadestinations
Now try getting a tableKong’s constitution allows. The party is
surely mindful of the approach of an im-
portant date: October 1st, the 70th anniver-
sary of Communist rule. For months it has
been reminding officials around the coun-
try of the supreme importance of main-
taining social stability in the build-up to
this occasion—the party has been clamp-
ing down on dissent harder than ever. Chi-
na’s leader, Xi Jinping, would be horrified
by a massive protest in Hong Kong on that
hallowed day. He may be wondering
whether intervention sooner rather than
later would be the best way of preventing
one. In practice it has to be assumed that he
is not itching to send in troops: doing so
would have huge diplomatic and economic
repercussions. For now, the threats are in-
tended to intimidate. The order to loyal
groups in Hong Kong is still to express con-
fidence in Mrs Lam’s ability to handle this.
One prong of China’s approach has be-
come clearer: stern demands for business
to fall into line. Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong’s
home-grown airline, is the most obvious
victim. Its parent, Swire Pacific, has roots
in Hong Kong’s early colonial history. Many
of its ground staff and cabin crew have tak-
en part enthusiastically in marches; one
pilot was even arrested for rioting. Only
last week Cathay’s chairman said of the
firm’s employees: “We certainly wouldn’t
dream of telling them what they have to
think about something.”
The group’s tune has changed following
relentless attacks by the Chinese govern-
ment and state media for allegedly sup-
porting the protesters. An online boycott-
ing campaign against Cathay has garnered
over 17m views. China has banned Cathay
planes flying into the mainland from tak-
ing crew members who have joined illegal
protests or “overly radical activities”. Since
August 11th Cathay has had to submit the
names of all crew before getting permis-
sion to fly. Now management says that any
staff found to be participating in illegal
protests will be fired (two pilots have been).
A Swire statement condemning illegal ac-
tions and resolutely supporting Hong
Kong’s government reads like a Commu-
nist Party declamation. Poor Cathay, its
shares buffeted, now faces a possible boy-
cott from angry Hong Kong democrats too.
It is yet one more example of a hardening of
lines. People in Hong Kong are coming un-
der pressure to take sides.
The hardening is evident on the front
lines of the territory’s young demonstra-
tors. For weeks, a legislator and social
worker, Fernando Cheung, has acted as a
mediator, attempting to de-escalate con-
frontations between protesters and police.
He has had some success. But at the airport
this week, Mr Cheung admits, both sides,
swearing and yelling, “wanted to get rid of
me as soon as possible”. The next steps in
the crisis, he adds, “do not look pretty”. 7