What’s got so many Chinese thinking about themselves? Why are so many women filing for divorce? And how is China’s pollution problem fuelling on-demand culture? This Cultural Snapshot uses local statistics and case studies to explore behavioural norms shared by China people in 2016.

Hashtag crazes like #A4Challenge and #BellyButtonChallenge reveal the huge social pressure Chinese women are under to conform to narrow beauty ideals. With a variety of eating disorders on the rise, some brands are now helping young people reject old conventions and pursue self-acceptance.

All the single ladies need menstrual products (and all the coupled ladies too), but in China, most women don't use tampons. So in 2017, Tampax brand owner Procter & Gamble used China's 'Singles' Day' for special discounts to drive sales and to encourage Chinese women to embrace tampons.

Automation has long been accompanied by a great deal of social anxiety, as it plays increasingly large roles in people’s everyday lives. In China, it’s even transforming the country’s famous censorship regime, further entrenching fears about it replacing human employees.