00:00Same doll, different mood. As the Lunar New Year approaches...
00:05Chinese shoppers are snapping up an unlikely mascot.
00:08This plush horse should...
00:10...be smiling, but a mix-up at the factory has turned that smile upside down.
00:15It created a viral sensation in the process.
00:18The crying horse came about because...
00:20...a worker sewed its mouth upside down by mistake.
00:22A lot of customers say it makes sense, that it suits the...
00:25...the spirit of today's corporate slaves.
00:28In the Chinese Zodiac 2020...
00:30...the year of the horse.
00:32To celebrate its arrival on February 17th...
00:35...the gift givers would generally opt for an auspicious symbol.
00:38But China's domestic economy...
00:40...is in a prolonged slump...
00:41...with consumer spending lagging the global average by some 20...
00:45...percent of GDP.
00:46The country's youth unemployment rate hit a two-year high of nearly...
00:5019% last August...
00:52...before easing to around 16.5% in December.
00:55Those who do find white-collar jobs often find the conditions to be frowned...
01:00...inducing...
01:01...with long hours and high stress commonplace.
01:03There's even a nickname...
01:05...for such exhausted employees...
01:07...niou ma...
01:08...or cow and horse.
01:10I understand.
01:12It's the kind of emotional value that young people look for...
01:15...these days...
01:16...when you go to work...
01:17...sitting there...
01:18...feeling like you want to cry...
01:19...then when you get off...
01:20...you're immediately happy...
01:21...right?
01:24The factory has...
01:25...has had to add 10 new production lines...
01:27...to keep up with the tens of thousands of orders flowing in.
01:30...daily...
01:31...a fitting response for the year of the horse...
01:33...which symbolizes...
01:34...both progress...
01:35...and perseverance.
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