‘Zero-energy companionship’: bizarre hobby takes seed among China’s stressed young adults

Faced with a stagnant jobs market, many are spurning children or pets in favour of ‘raising bricks’

Chinese young adults looking for a cheaper, low-maintenance alternative to having pets or children have found an answer: raising bricks.

Bricks may not be as cuddly as cats or as life-affirming as human offspring, but they also cost next to nothing. “No cats, no dating, I started raising a brick,” wrote one brick parent on social media.