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In China, heavy cell phone users are known as the ditouzu. This slang term roughly translates to the โheads-down crowd,โ and describes the types whose heads stay glued to their screens in all situations: at work, on the subwayโeven in the bathroom.
Nonstop cell-phone use is a phenomenon not unique to China, though the country has seen its share of injuries from so-called โtext neck,โ the hunched posture required for marathon scrolling sessions.
It makes sense: Since 2012, China has been home to the most mobile users in the world, and in 2017, 753 million Chinese people accessed the internet through their cell phones.
TechNode visited one of the highest-tech areas in one of Chinaโs highest-tech citiesโthe Huaqiangbei electronics market in Shenzhenโto ask Chinese cell phone users, โWhat are you doing on your phone?โ
There were leisure users, like Zhang Qingna, a 36-year-old civil servant. She said she had been reading celebrity news about Hong Kong actor and singer Myolie Wuโs vacation in Malaysia.
Yang Xiaodong, a 45-year-old system analyst, said that heโd just been using his phone to play card games, and heโd won. โJust as you guys came I had very good luck,โ he said.
Others were using their phones for more urgent tasks. Guixin Chen, 22, had just arrived in Shenzhen for a weekend trip and was looking for a place to sleep.
And others, naturally, were shopping. Guang Xu, 29, and Zhou Jie, 28, were researching a newly released sneaker, and Yu Hui, a 33-year-old bank administrative worker, was maneuvering a shopping rewards program.
All agreed that in todayโs China, mobile access is a crucial part of daily life.
Jie said, โIn the lives of people today, if they donโt have a phone, itโs not doable. Whenever I stop working, I think, โIs my phone there? Is it charged?’โ
His friend, Xu, added, โYou unconsciously pick it up and want to check it.โ
