Release time：2025-09-12
I always thought that the reason for this situation is that the Chinese people are not familiar with and used to e-mail, and most Internet users have never experienced the era of e-mail. From the beginning of their contact with the Internet, the common contact methods are QQ and mobile phones. Now it is WeChat. For most people, e-mail is a complex ancient application without a sense of intimacy. The resulting abuse of communication tools has made Chinese people no longer distinguish between work and life, and work and life are one spoonful.
The other day I read an article "In China, WeChat Blurs the Line between Work and Life", which gave me a better understanding of this issue. The author of the article, Michelle Zhang, is a Chinese-American living and working in North America. When she was sent to China, she suddenly entered the Chinese-style life and work state where WeChat is the main contact method. Chinese people mix family members and colleagues, personal life and work communication are mixed together, and working time and personal time are mixed together. This boundary crossing or even disappearing caused a huge impact on her, causing her to feel pain and struggle.
In the West, work-life balance means not bringing work to life, not dealing with personal matters at work, and personal life and personal time are inviolable. But in China, the so-called work-life balance precisely means that you have me and I have you, and the boundaries between the two tend to disappear. Interestingly, Michelle quickly adjusted to this mess, and she gradually discovered that this Chinese-style separation of public and private is not completely unacceptable. The combination of LinkedIn and Facebook gave her the opportunity to see a fuller and more complete person, to get to know strangers and build relationships with colleagues faster. In the process, her happiness did not decrease.
