‘Are You Dead?’ craze highlights China’s cultural shift

A Chinese personal safety app called Are You Dead? has gone viral, attracting widespread media attention. Behind its sudden popularity lie deeper social transformations, including demographic shifts and changing personal and family relationships.

At the same time, demand is growing for trust-based, non-medical, easy-to-use care networks tailored to the rapid rise of one-person households. Now rebranded as Demumu, it also shows how digital technologies are reshaping social and cultural norms.

As traditional community support structures weaken, technology is stepping in to fill the gaps. In 2025, with a development cost of around 1,500 yuan (US$210), three Chinese professionals from Moonscape Technologies launched a personal safety app called Are You Dead?.

It was designed to address the safety concerns of China’s growing population of people who live alone. As described on its official store page, the app aims to “protect every solitary moment with simple solutions and build a solid safety line for [single] living.”

Users are prompted to click an on-screen button daily or fortnightly via their smartphone to verify they are alive. If a user fails to do so, the system automatically sends email alerts to two nominated emergency contacts.

International markets

Shortly after its release, it went viral and quickly became the most downloaded paid app in China. A 10% stake in the company reportedly increased in value from 1 million yuan ($140,000) to nearly 10 million yuan within three days.

This suggests an overall valuation of close to 100 million yuan for the developer.

In mid-January, the app rebranded as Demumu as part of its global expansion plan. It has now gained traction in more than 40 countries, ranking near the top in international markets such as the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada.

The 2020 China Population Census showed there were more than 125 million one-person households. That is one in every four households in the country. Around two thirds are aged between 20 and 59. It is estimated there will be 200 million such households by 2030.

The rapid rise of solo living can be attributed to several factors. First, a growing number of “empty nest” older adults. This has been caused by population ageing, and the decline of marriage and fertility while divorce rates rise.

These trends have been intensified by longer life expectancy and the legacy of the decades-long One Child Policy in China.

Second, intimate relationships and family formation have become less attainable for many. Men are often expected to own a home and a car even at the courtship stage, which is increasingly difficult due to rising living costs and high property prices.

“Bride prices” – paid by a man’s family to a woman’s before marriage – are also escalating. Third, large-scale migration from rural to urban areas has produced many “split households.”

Millions of “empty-nest youths” live alone for extended periods under intense work-related pressures before forming or reuniting with families. A common anxiety among this group is “disappearing in loneliness.”

Urban communities

Numerous reports have documented “empty nesters” who died and were only found days, weeks, or even months later, particularly in gated urban communities. These incidents highlight the vulnerabilities of living alone, as well as the absence of safety networks.

This is a problem Demumu seeks to address. Moreover, among younger generations in China – particularly highly educated urban women – attitudes towards marriage and singlehood are shifting. Living alone is increasingly a deliberate choice.

Career development and personal autonomy are becoming higher priorities. Many women wish to avoid taking on a disproportionate share of domestic responsibilities. In short, China’s singles economy is booming, and the market still has significant room to grow.

In major metropolitan centres such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, products and services tailored to people living alone are more and more visible.

These include “single” hotpot restaurants, one-person karaoke booths, and micro-apartments designed for solo dwellers. Compact household appliances such as mini-fridges, coffee machines, and kettles are also readily available.

Even travel packages for singles are now being offered by tour operators. Companionship of various kinds is also on offer. Owning pets – particularly dogs and cats – often plays an important role in the everyday lives of people who live alone.

The intimate services market has also expanded rapidly through digital platforms and smartphone apps. They include love mentoring and relationship counselling, online dating and digital romance games.

AI-powered chatbot companions and humanoid dolls designed to meet the emotional and relational needs of singles are also becoming more common. There is also an emerging niche business known as date-renting.

Platform profiteering

This practice was initially popularised among young “bare branches” seeking to bring a temporary partner home for Lunar New Year family gatherings.

Yet, date-renting has since evolved into a personalised service economy. In the process, dating is transformed into an “emotional commodity,” made visible for public consumption and increasingly shaped by platform profiteering.

Together with the emergence of apps such as Demumu, these singles-oriented businesses are energising China’s solo-driven economy. More importantly, they are also filling the gaps left by shrinking families and increasingly individualised living arrangements.

In the process, they are reshaping contemporary social and personal relations and normalising single-centred cultures and lifestyles in everyday life.

Pan Wang is an Associate Professor in Chinese and Asian Studies at UNSW Sydney in Australia.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy of China Factor.