While Americans worry about inflation and affordability, the Chinese are fretting about deflation and a down economy.
To get a sense of Chinese consumer confidence today, visit Beijing toy seller Gao Lan, where a frowning horse plushie is selling out for the Year of the Horse.
According to state media, a factory worker mistakenly sewed the toy’s smile upside down, creating a runaway hit in China referred to as “the crying horse.”
“Nowadays, there is so much stress in our society,” Gao said. “The crying horse reflects how people feel inside.”
The popularity of the horse is just one indication of a gloom in Chinese society that appears to be building as the economy slows and people feel less certain about the future.
A view of two “Crying Horse” plush toys, firstly a mouth-piece upside-down mistake by a factory worker and now an overnight sensation, in a New Year celebration stuff shop in Hangzhou in eastern China’s Zhejiang province, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026.
Long Wei | Feature China | Future Publishing | Getty Images
Another metric of the melancholy is the viral app sensation Are You Dead? or “Sileme” in Chinese.
In early January, the app by Beijing-based startup Moonscape Technologies topped the charts of Apple‘s App Store in China. The app is meant to give people living alone peace of mind that if they die, someone will notice.
Co-founder Ian Lü told CNBC that all the founders had lived in big Chinese cities on their own and understood the need to check in with someone.
“We realized that if anything happened to us, nobody would have known. So we created the app for users to alert their family or friends,” Lü said in an interview.
The way it works is that you check in with the app every day. If 48 hours goes by without you pressing a big green button on your screen, the app sends an email to your emergency contact.
The service costs 8 yuan (US$1.15) per month.
Despite the demand, the Are You Dead? app is facing a death of its own as the government appears sensitive about the morbid outlook.
Soon after its launch, the app’s name drew criticism from state media, and its founders changed the name to Demumu. However, the app has since disappeared from the App Store.
In this photo illustration, the logo of app Demumu is displayed on a smartphone screen on Jan. 14, 2026 in Suqian, Jiangsu Province of China.
VCG | Visual China Group | Getty Images
Apple told CNBC that China’s cybersecurity watchdog ordered the app’s removal because it failed to comply with rules to “adhere to public order and good morals.”
In a statement, Apple added: “We follow the laws in the countries where we operate. … The app remains available for download on all other storefronts where it appears.”
Because of China’s aging society, more elderly are on their own. And many young people who moved to cities for work don’t have siblings and aren’t partnering up.
China’s marriage rate of 4.3% in 2024 hit a 45-year low.
In China, 1 in 6 households are single-person, which is one of the reasons that dine-in cubbies at McDonald’s have become popular.
The seats, which are separated by partitions so people can have privacy when they eat alone, are not new. However, photos of them have gone viral on social media. The design is seen as a nod to how more Chinese are living solo.
It is that backdrop of loneliness and anxiety where the crying horse fits right in.
“There is a lot of bitterness and a feeling of unfairness,” Xiao Juan, a customer at Gao’s toy store said. “If you can’t cry out loud, this horse can cry for you.”
