If you look around your city, you might spot girls wearing hanfu in subways or people wearing, T-shirts with Chinese characters on the streets. A new trend is taking hold in China-guochao or “China-chic”.

According to a recently published report, searches related to guochao on Dianping, a lifestyle information platform, have risen by 170 percent from the same period last year, and reviews have risen by nearly 40 percent. China-chic is happening, but what is it?

The term characterizes the rise of China’s native fashion trends. It has expanded the concept of “Made in China”, which has been recognized as the representation of Chinese culture and aesthetics (审美) offered by homegrown Chinese brands, according to CGTN.

China-chic came into the spotlight in 2018. Before that, big-name foreign companies dominated the world market. To win market share, many Chinese brands followed in the footsteps of these Western brands. But that year, Chinese sportswear brand Li-Ning changed things up. During the 2018 New York Fashion Week, Li-Ning introduced its Taoism-inspired Wu Dao collection. The collection not only had a trendy look, but also included elements of traditional Chinese culture. It immediately grabbed attention at home and abroad. As a result, the company recorded 20 percent revenue growth in 2018, marking the first time the brand’s revenue had hit the 10-billion-yuan mark since its founding.

The trend to embrace (欣然) domestic brands has since spread rapidly to various sectors (领域) and products, from food and drinks to clothing, mobile phones and electric vehicles. For example, White Rabbit, whose sweet candy brings back childhood memories for many, launched its perfume (香水) and lip balm (唇膏). “We want White Rabbit to be a brand that young people want to share,” Shen Qinfeng, the company’s marketing manager, told People’s Daily.

Now, the guochao trend is “moving to the next stage”, where its success will rely, first and foremost on gaining cultural confidence rather than Western validation (认可), according to Kerra Zhou, founder or brand strategy consultancy Kerrisma.

This March, several Western brands boycotted Xinjiang cotton over “forced labor” allegations (指控). To show national pride and cultural confidence, the “I support Xinjiang cotton” campaign spread across the country. Many Chinese boycotted these Western brands and turned to Chinese domestic brands support Xinjiang cotton, like Li-Ning and Anta.

“No matter how the guochao trend evolves, there’s one thing that won’t change: Behind the craze is people’s positive attitude toward the country’s development and their recognition of and growing confidence in national culture,” said Yao Linqing, a professor in the School of Economics and Management at Communication University of China.

Happy, angry, amazed – these are some of the emotions we like to express these days when we're sending a message on our smartphones! Many of us now add little pictures to our texts to brighten up someone’s mobile screen. 【小题1】. Emojis have become a vital tool for communication.

The emoji was first invented in Japan in the late 1990s and the word 'emoji' comes from the Japanese words for 'picture' and 'character'. 【小题2】Now we have a picture for every mood or situation.

So now we have the option to give this new creation the visual 'thumbs-up' but have you thought (puzzled face) why we've become so addicted to using emojis? 【小题3】. Emojis are a sort of substitute for the visual or non- verbal signals we normally give when we speak to someone face-to-face.

Another advantage of emojis is that they are an international language – they don't use words but tell a message in pictorial form so they can be easily interpreted whatever your native language. However, the emojis you send need some thought. 【小题4】– if a friend sends you an emoji of a hammer, you may think he is angry when he is saying he has hurt himself or he is clumsy!

Emojis are a good way for showing empathy—they are a virtual hug or a loving pat. But as linguist Neil Cohn says, "【小题5】; to others, they are posing a threat to our language." It does show there is a lot more to our communication than words alone but does this mean the decline in traditional writing?

The British Sense of Humour

The British are known for their sense of humor. However, it is often difficult for foreigners to make sense of their jokes. The main thing to remember is that the British like to make fun of themselves as well as others. 【小题1】 Another key to understanding British humor is to know that the British often use understatement.

Understatement means saying less than you think or feel. For example, if someone is very impolite and shouts at another person, someone else might say, 'She isn’t exactly friendly.' Understatement is often used in unpleasant situations or to make another person look silly. 【小题2】

The British like to make fun of many other things. They often laugh about the silly and terrible things that happen to us every day, like when someone accidentally falls over in the street. They also like to make jokes about people from different classes of society. 【小题3】Finally, the British love to watch comedies about people who do not know how to behave in society. The comedy programme Mr. Bean is a good example of this kind of humor.

【小题4】In pictures, he almost never talks, and instead he uses his body movement and facial expressions to make people laugh. Perhaps what makes Mr. Bean so funny is that he does things that adults in the real world cannot do. For instance, once Mr. Bean bought a large chair. He needed to take it home, but it was too big to fit in his small car. His solution was to put the chair on top of his car. 【小题5】Mr. Bean is popular in many countries around the world because you do not have to speak English to understand the humor. Because of this, many people can better understand the British sense of humor.