THE GUARDIAN: ‘Will AI take my job?’ A trip to a Beijing fortune-telling bar to see what lies ahead
Amy Hawkins visits one of the many bars popping up across Chinese cities offering drinks, snacks and a vision of the future
In the age of self-help, self-improvement and self-obsession, there have never been more places to look to for guidance.
Where the anxious and the uncertain might have once consulted a search engine for answers, now we can engage in a seemingly meaningful discussion about our problems with ChatGPT. Or, if you’re in China, DeepSeek.
To some, though, it feels as if our ancestors knew more about life than we do.
Or at least, they knew how to look for them.
And so it is that scores of young Chinese are turning to ancient forms of divination to find out what the future holds.
In the past couple of years, fortune-telling bars have been popping up in China’s cities, offering drinks and snacks alongside xuanxue, or spiritualism.
The trend makes sense: China’s economy is struggling, and although consumers are saving their pennies, going out for a drink is cheaper than other forms of retail therapy or an actual therapist.
With a deep-rooted culture of mysticism that blends Daoist, Buddhist and folk practices, which have defied decades of the government trying to stamp out superstitious beliefs, for many Chinese people, turning to the unseen makes perfect sense.
This week, I decided to join them.
My xuanxue haunt of choice is Qie Le, a newly opened bar in Beijing’s wealthy Chaoyang district.
On a Thursday evening, the bar, adorned with yellow Taoist talismans and draped translucent curtains, is quiet. All the better for hogging the fortune-teller’s attention with questions from my deep wells of narcissism.
But Wan Mo, either because of her spiritual intuition or because I am not the first self-involved millennial to seek her services, sees me coming a mile off.
It’s strictly one question per drink bought.
Wan Mo, a stylish 36-year-old dressed in a loose white Tang-style jacket fastened with traditional Chinese knots, specialises in qiuqian, or Chinese lottery sticks.
The practice involves shaking a cylindrical wooden container full of wooden sticks, while focusing on a question in your mind.
Eventually, one of the sticks, engraved with text and numerals, falls out, and a fortune-teller can interpret the answer....
theguardian.com/world/2025/j…
#AI
#FortuneTelling
#BeijingBars
#Xuanxue
#ChineseSpirituality
#Divination
#FortuneTellingBars
#ChinaCulture
#Mysticism
#Daoism
#Buddhism
#ChineseTraditions
#BeijingNightlife
#Spiritualism
#Qiuqian
#ChineseFortuneTelling
#Beijing
#ChaoyangDistrict
#YoungChinese
#ChinaEconomy
#RetailTherapy
#AncientPractices
#ModernChina
#TaoistTalismans
#FortuneTeller
#WanMo
#ChineseMysticism
#SelfImprovement
#AIandJobs
#DeepSeek
#ChatGPT
#CulturalTrends
#ChineseYouth
#SpiritualGuidance
#BeijingFortuneTelling
#TraditionalPractices
#ChineseLotterySticks
#TangStyle
#MysticalExperience
#ChinaNightlife
#Superstition
#EasternSpirituality
#FortuneTellingTrend
#BeijingCulture
#ChineseFolklore
#SelfDiscovery