Tulip (pseudonym), based in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, still treasures her first crochet piece: a navy-blue coaster she made in high school, with guidance from an older friend. What started as a simple hobby seven years ago has since grown into a full-time career.

"The internet moves too fast," she said."People are trapped in constant anxiety. But crochet is inherently slow — it can't be rushed. It's about weaving together fragmented moments, stitch by stitch."

Known by the handle Qingzheng Mozai on social media, Tulip represents a rising wave of young Chinese embracing an "old-school life" as a counterbalance to the relentless pace of modern life. This philosophy encompasses crafts, food, and personal rituals, forming a holistic approach to living.

The scale of this shift is evident in the numbers: a 2025 survey by China Youth Daily found that 89.9 percent of 1,337 young respondents said they liked visiting local food markets while traveling. Similarly, content related to crochet has attracted billions of views across platforms such as Xiaohongshu and Douyin, according to a March report by China News Service.

A former fashion design student, Tulip struggled with crochet during her university years, receiving poor grades in related courses. But she didn't give up. She began posting her work online, looking for a community of like-minded people. The support she found there helped her improve, both in her crochet skills and in her understanding of the deeper value crochet brought to her life — a sense of peace.

"I used to fear heavy workloads," she admitted. "But crochet showed me how to take things step by step. No matter how heavy the load, it eventually gets done."

Her passion for crochet even led her to translate a foreign crochet pattern book into Chinese — a task that required not just language skills but also a deep, practical knowledge of the craft, as many international patterns didn't have Chinese editions.

"It taught me to stay true to my own vision," she said.