‘Zero-yuan shopping’ — Phrase of the Week

Our Phrase of the Week is: Zero-yuan shopping (零元购 líng yuán gòu).

The context

Festival-goers at the Midi Music Festival (迷笛音乐节 mídí yīnyuèjié) held over the first weekend of China’s Golden Week holiday had many of their belongings stolen during the four-day gathering.

This is the first time China’s largest rock festival, now in its 30th year, has come to Nanyang, a third-tier city in Henan Province. It’s a big opportunity to drive tourism in the city — the mayor of Nanyang even personally welcomed visitors as they arrived at the city’s train station.

Heavy rains on three of the four days meant that many punters opted to stay in hotels, while other engaged in “mud wars” (泥巴大战 níbā dàzhàn) on the festival site, with images circulating widely on social media.

Many people were away from their tents for much of the festival. Upon returning, they realized their belongings had been stolen, including tents, mobile phones, laptops, bank cards, cash, clothes, and shoes.

According to a statement released by the festival organizers on October 5, local police had received a total of 73 reports of theft cases, while reports from festival-goers suggested the numbers of people affected are in the hundreds.

The city police have also issued a statement claiming that accounts of large-scale robbery are overblown.

But one media commentator noted, based on interviews with festival-goers:

In this incident, rampant theft occurred, which can even be called Chinese-style “zero-yuan shopping.”

这次偷盗事件中，盗贼的行为十分猖獗，甚至堪称中国式”零元购”事件。

Zhècì tōudào shìjiàn zhōng, dàozéi de xíngwéi shífēn chāngjué, shènzhì kānchēng zhōngguóshì “língyuángòu” shìjiàn.

And with that, we have our Phrase of the Week!

What it means

Zero-yuan shopping was originally a phrase from China’s livestream ecommerce world. It refers to products priced at zero yuan on shopping websites or by livestreamers.

These products are usually not truly free: They are a marketing ploy to get consumers to buy other products, a bit like buy one, get one free, which you might see in any supermarket. Zero-yuan purchases may also be gifts with discounts or coupons.

Since 2020, the phrase has become an internet buzzword in China with a different meaning, used to describe the large-scale looting seen during violent riots in the U.S. in 2020 and France in 2023.

In this context, zero-yuan shopping means stealing.

The “Chinese-style zero-yuan shopping” seen at the Midi Music Festival is a nod to some of the local rural residents being compared to rioters stealing other people’s belongings and getting them for nothing.

So here, the Phrase of the Week is best translated as “large-scale looting.”