More Chinese fork out for good night's sleep
Source: Xinhua | 2022-04-09
Xueying, a vlogger on the Chinese entertainment platform Bilibili whose video clips constantly focus on how to improve sleep quality, has found the topic a buzzword for more and more people in China.
Among the comments below the videos are grumbles about how insomnia has stopped some from being successful in their career. Some night owls come to seek possible solutions to improve their sleep quality and health.
In 2021, the time that Chinese people fell asleep delayed more than two hours, while the time of waking up was also 37 minutes later compared with that of 2012, which means that the average sleeping time was almost 1.5 hours less, according to an annual report on Chinese people's sleep.
A report published in 2022 shows that Chinese people are increasingly worried about problems incurred by poor sleep, like the declining anti-pressure ability, memory loss, skin damage, and weakened immunity. And they have become the major customers of the rising "sleep economy."
Data released by the market research firm iResearch show that the overall market size of the country's sleep economy had grown from about 262 billion yuan (41 billion U.S. dollars) in 2016 to approximately 378 billion yuan in 2020.
"It's a vast market with great potential and has seen rapid growth over the years," said Wang Guangliang, executive director of the sleep industry branch under the National Association of Health Industry and Enterprise Management.
"Twenty years ago, the sleep economy equaled nothing more than beds, pillows and quilts, as people only cared about sleeping warmly," said Wang. "The sector now covers health, household necessities, and other categories and has developed emerging divisions like intelligent and tailored products."
A myriad of mattresses, eye patches, earplugs, aromatherapy, massage products, and sleep monitoring devices are available on China's major e-emporiums. Mobile applications to help users analyze their sleep behavior, record sleep conditions, and play white noise and meditation music are increasingly well-received.
Huang Ting of the country's post-90s generation works hard during the daytime as a white-collar worker in north China's Tianjin Municipality. She said she desperately needs a cozy and smart sleeping environment at night.
"Since the COVID-19 outbreak, I have spent more time at home than before. I began to look for bedroom gadgets that can help me sleep better," said Huang, who wears an intelligent bracelet to monitor her daily sleeping conditions with a white noise speaker turned on during the nighttime.
Xue Rong, deputy executive director of the neurology department of Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, said that fledging technologies are also adopted in medical treatment to improve patients' sleep.
Advanced sleep monitoring equipment has improved the accuracy of diagnoses. Pharmacological treatments have upgraded with the help of supporting physical therapy, psychotherapy, mindfulness and music therapy, said Xue.
"We have also carried out hypnotic therapy based on Virtual Reality (VR) technologies. Patients can see sceneries with healing powers by wearing VR glasses while their sleep and brain's electrical activities can be improved," Xue noted.
Busiunion
Busiunion