Latest news with #YuBo
Ammon
25-04-2025
- Health
- Ammon
More Chinese people embracing conversations about death
Ammon News - For Yu Bo, a 41-year-old filmmaker from Beijing, death once felt like a distant concept something dramatic, even had spent years documenting life-or-death moments in ICUs, always from behind the camera. But everything shifted when he experienced three severe episodes of acute pancreatitis in a single year."It was all self-inflicted alcohol, social events," Yu said. "But it made me realize that death is the one destination we all share. I wanted to understand it, to choose how I face it."Last month, Yu signed a living will through an online platform, joining a growing number of Chinese people who are formally documenting their end-of-life wishes. He chose to forgo cardiopulmonary resuscitation, mechanical ventilation, and tube feeding should his condition be deemed China develops, life expectancy has steadily risen reaching around 79 years in 2024, among the highest in the developing world. Many older adults are now living longer, healthier lives, but the rise in chronic illness and end-of-life challenges is prompting deeper reflection on how to age and die with this shifting landscape, end-of-life planning is slowly entering the public conversation. While once seen as taboo, living wills and advance directives are gaining ground, offering individuals greater control and families a clearer sense of their loved ones' final is part of a demographic driving this change: educated, urban, tech-savvy adults aged 30 to 59. This age group accounts for two-thirds of the more than 60,000 people who have signed living wills with the Beijing Living Will Promotion Association formerly known as the Choice and Dignity platform since 2010."At our age, the most obvious sign is that you get fewer wedding invitations and more funeral notices," he said. "I've seen too many people suffer needlessly in their final days, like my grandfather, who was bedridden for eight years. That wasn't life. That was prolonged pain."Nearly 70 percent of the Chinese who have signed living wills with the association hold a university degree, and most live in developed cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, where exposure and access to new ideas shape their was initially rapid, peaking at about 15,000 annually six years ago, but this has since slowed. According to Wang Bo, secretary-general of the association, this isn't due to waning interest, but rather the emergence of more channels to write wills, such as hospitals, civic groups and notary offices."Public awareness has grown," Wang said. "When we first started, no one responded to the information we shared on WeChat. But now, even high school students have joined our volunteer team."Still, progress clashes with China, cultural norms surrounding death remain strong discussing it is often avoided, as it's seen as inauspicious. Forgoing life-prolonging treatment, no matter how futile, can be seen as unfilial. Families often insist on aggressive interventions for emotional closure or fear of being Yuan, a doctor at the palliative care center of Beijing Haidian Hospital, often sees this tension. "People believe that as long as their elderly relatives are alive, their family is whole," she explained. "They also worry about being judged for 'giving up' too early."To navigate this, her team holds family meetings to align patient wishes with family expectations. "It's a daily negotiation," she policy is beginning to reflect shifting 2023, Shenzhen became the first Chinese city to legally recognize living wills, allowing residents to reject invasive treatments at the end of their move sparked unexpected interest, with notary offices reporting rising numbers of people seeking to formalize their wishes."Young people and childless couples are increasingly seeking notarization," said Liu Suimei, a Shenzhen notary. "They care deeply about preserving dignity in their final moments."As China's population ages with more than 310 million people aged 60 and above the government has been expanding palliative care services as part of a broader strategy to meet the diverse needs of its elderly units in China grew from 510 in 2020 to 4,259 in 2022, with pilot facilities reaching 185 cities and counties. Yet access remains uneven, especially in less-developed western regions. By 2025, the government aims to establish at least one palliative care ward in every pilot area, ensuring coverage across both urban and rural momentum is building. In 2024, a national political advisor proposed the expansion of education and policy support. Advocates want advance directives linked to health IDs, ensuring that people's wishes follow them to the shift mirrors a global trend. While the United States is moving from static living wills to ongoing advance care planning (ACP), China is adapting similar envisions ACP, which will be a key promotion focus for her association in the future, as a tool to translate personal preferences into actionable medical said the association plans to use big data to inform policy and expand outreach via video-sharing and streaming platforms like Douyin and cultural resistance lingers."Some people just wave us off, as if talking about death will make it come sooner," said Xiang Qiaozhen, a palliative care nurse in Zhejiang and a volunteer advocate. "But waiting until the very end often means missing the chance to have the conversation at all."She has not signed a living will herself, but her daughter knows her wishes. "One day, she told me, 'If it ever comes to that, I'll make sure you go into palliative care,'" Xiang said. "That kind of quiet understanding is what we hope to build."Yu Bo, too, faced pushback. After sharing his decision to sign a living will on his WeChat account, friends flooded him with calls, assuming he was terminally ill. "They couldn't believe I'd made such a choice just to be prepared," he said."Our discomfort with death is almost in our cultural DNA," Yu reflected. "We fear it, avoid it, and rarely claim ownership of it. But choosing how we leave this world should be our own right." Despite this, he remains hopeful. "I believe more people will choose the same path," he said. "I want to tell their stories through film. Maybe then, we'll learn to talk about death not to dwell on it, but to live more wisely because of it."
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
RedNote influencer awaits as TikTok faces sale or ban by April 5
STORY: From his kitchen in Beijing, Yu Bo is running a campaign to connect China with America – one slapstick cooking video at a time. :: Yu Bo 37-year-old Yu has spun up an alter-ego as an ambassador for speedy Chinese cooking in short English-language videos posted to RedNote, a Chinese social media app and search engine. His 136,000 followers, including thousands in the United States, send him daily questions about Chinese food and life in China. 'It's been so crazy! It's so crazy that it's like I'm speaking the most non-standard English to my foreign friends, but they still like me. At that time, I was a little... actually, I was a little scared because I thought, will everyone think I'm bad? Or will everyone treat me like a joker? But later, I found that they love me.' At a time when tensions between Washington and Beijing are high, it might seem like the odds are against him. More than half a million Americans downloaded RedNote earlier this year, days before a proposed U.S. ban on the popular Chinese social media app TikTok. Now, with an April 5th deadline set by the Trump administration for TikTok to find a buyer, Yu's side hustle could be set for more change. Washington officials have said TikTok's ownership by ByteDance makes it beholden to the Chinese government. RedNote is privately owned and valued at $17 billion. Yaling Jiang, analyst and founder of ApertureChina believes RedNote will benefit from TikTok's troubles. 'I think the TikTok refugee phenomenon has already ended sadly, but it just like how many other viral moments have ended, which is fine. But what RedNote can do with this viral moment is that I think they have been trying to use it as a fuel for another potential IPO in Hong Kong, because through this phenomena now, global investors, global users know them, They know those potentials and know how different it is from all the other Chinese apps, from Tik Tok, from Weibo, which is brilliant for the company.'' The uncertainty doesn't phase Yu, who continues to cook, post and connect more with his new found American audience.
Reuters
04-04-2025
- Business
- Reuters
One Beijing man's quest to keep cooking - and connecting with Americans
Summary BEIJING, April 4 (Reuters) - From his kitchen in Beijing, Yu Bo is running a campaign to connect China with America – one slapstick cooking video at a time. At a time when tensions between Washington and Beijing are high, it might seem like the odds are against him. The Reuters Tariff Watch newsletter is your daily guide to the latest global trade and tariff news. Sign up here. Yu, 37, is keeping his day job directing commercial videos. But since January he has spun up an alter-ego as an ambassador for speedy Chinese cooking in short English-language videos posted to RedNote, a social media app and go-to search engine. He now has 136,000 followers, including thousands in the United States, many of whom send him daily messages and questions about Chinese food and life in China that keep him up late at night. 'All kinds of English messages, so every night I'm improving my English just to be able to communicate better with them,' he said. When more than half a million Americans downloaded RedNote earlier this year, days before a proposed U.S. ban on the popular Chinese social media app TikTok, Yu saw an opportunity to turn his small kitchen into a studio. Now, with a Saturday deadline set by the Trump administration for TikTok to find a buyer, Yu's side hustle could be set for more change. His online persona mixes the dramatic flourishes of Turkish restaurateur Salt Bae with self-deprecating humour, a wide-eyed look into the camera and an evolving series of heavily accented catchphrases. 'So easy!' is a favourite. Another, as he fires up his gas cooker: 'Open the fire!' A fan of rapper Eminem, whose off-camera bookshelf includes Ayn Rand and David Foster Wallace, Yu was worried at first about how his limited spoken English would travel. 'I was a little scared because I thought, will everyone think I'm bad? Will everyone treat me like a joker? But later I found they love me.' When Yu used five eggs in one dish, an American follower asked if he was rich. 'How expensive are eggs in America?' When another asked how to grow rice, he advised against trying. One single mother told him her daughter with ADHD found his videos soothing. He sent her a private message in which he baked a cake for the girl. 'I was just so touched,' he said. RedNote is sometimes described as China's answer to Instagram. Its Chinese name Xiaohongshu translates to "Little Red Book" in English, a phrase that traditionally refers to a collection of sayings by Mao Zedong. Privately owned RedNote, valued at $17 billion in its latest funding round, has probably benefited from the surge of attention whatever happens next for TikTok, said Yaling Jiang, founder of consultancy ApertureChina. 'Global investors, global users know them. They know the potential and how it is different from other Chinese apps,' she said. Washington officials have said TikTok's ownership by ByteDance makes it beholden to the Chinese government. For now, Yu continues to cook and post. He started a stir-fry lesson this week by throwing a green pepper at the viewer. Off camera, his sphynx cat and a kitten were watching. The kitten was born when Yu's channel took off. He named it Xiaohongshu.
