You're tuned in to Roundtable.
I'm Steve Hatherly today with Yuxuan and Feifei.
Coming up.
Young people are putting away their mindfulness apps and finding peace in a pile of plastic beads.
It's called Pindo and it's one of the latest offline obsessions, taking over offices and weekends across China.
We'll look at why a generation is picking up tweezers to unwind.
After that, every year, millions of Chinese parents stay up late, wrapping textbooks for their kids in plastic.
It's supposed to protect the books.
Instead, it's stressing out families and filling landfills.
So how did a simple back to school chore turn into a symbol of everything wrong with the system?
This is the strange, stressful life of the textbook cover.
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And now.
If you've walked past a handcraft store recently, or perhaps even scrolled through your social media feed well, you've probably noticed a new trend taking over young people's free time.
Pindo.
These tiny colorful plastic beads, once a niche DIY hobby, have exploded into a craze amongst the younger generation.
From office workers unwinding after work to students killing some time on the weekends, everyone seems to be picking up the tweezers and poking the beads into the templates.
But what exactly is Bindo and why is everyone doing it these days?
Yeah, it's not a Chinese thing, because I was on the Internet and I saw people in Canada and America and the UK.
They do this as well.
And it looks like kind of a fun little hobby.
But for people who don't know, what is pindou?
Here in China it's also described as plastic cross stitch, because it is pixel by pixel and making up the different images.
And it is a very popular technique.
DIY handcraft involves placing small colorful plastic beads onto a grid template using tweezers or a special pen.
And then after the pattern is completed, the beads are ironed.
So they slightly melt and then fuse together into a finished design.
That's why it's also called fused beads.
It's kind of like Lego.
Yes, yes.
I also want to mention it.
Like this kind of a trend or the whole artistic is, I think, aligned with some of these pixel styled Lego or Minecraft.
Yes, Minecraft too.
Yeah, exactly.
So the finished product looks like Lego or Minecraft.
But the process of creating that finished product is different.
Yushan, you explained it pretty well.
So you've got these little tiny beads, right?
And they're basically like little tubes, mini tubes.
And they look like little mini licorice pieces.
And then the template is this board, and that would be the design of whatever it is that you're making.
So the tweezers, we keep saying tweezers, right?
The reason you have to use tweezers is because the little pieces are so small that you have to pick And light.
And light.
So you have to pick them up and then pop them onto the template board.
And when you've got all your pieces into place, you take what looks like cooking paper, like paper that you can put in the oven, you put it over the plastic, then you use an iron and you put that over the paper and then all the beads they melt together and then voila, you've got your finished product.
I've never done this before, but i watched a video videos for like a half an hour.
You really need to like be really, really careful, because if you are like putting your iron too long, it may just melt it.
Everything too much.
Yes,
And then you need to control the time.
And the temperature, I guess.
Yes, and everything.
And it looks kind of simple and cute.
But it requires patience and also concentration.
And that's maybe a small keychain or cartoon pattern can take you around one to three hours.
And the patterns, they can be like 2D.
They can be 2D, but they can also be three-dimensional as well.
And those are the coolest looking ones.
Yes.
And they have been like young people.
They're developing like 3D versions of...
I think in traditional sense well, traditional like when Pinduoduo first got popular.
Most of them are like in 2D patterns.
For example, there is a blogger who spent 23 days, several hours each day, and that person used 120000 bees to create the Pindol version of a very famous Chinese ancient painting A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains.
And that is in a 2D pattern.
But there have been people that's developed that technique that make, for example, a keychain into a 3D, for example, a 3D flower shape.
Yep.
Yeah, I was very curious how they did that, because I tried Pindo before and got very quickly frustrated.
Why?
Because I don't have a tweezer.
I just realized why it's so difficult for me because I don't have a tweezer.
What were you using?
My hands.
So it's very difficult to pick up that small bees and try to put it on the template.
I find the reason now.
So this is really popular now.
These are becoming very popular.
Give us some numbers to prove how popular these are.
Yeah, and Pinduoduo has become a really major trend among young people in China, both online and offline.
People are going there, taking pictures, sharing them online.
And online platforms show explosive growth, and stats from Douyin showing that group purchases of Pindou experience.
You can just buy like Groupons and then you can go to that specific store to experience this.
So the purchase by Gen Z increased by over 9,000% year-on-year.
90 times.
Yeah.
And on Taobao.
Pindo was also listed among the top 10 trending products of 2025, with Search volume rising by 500.
It's crazy, isn't it?
It's not a new thing.
I heard of it or I saw stores doing these things since I was in middle school or high school.
It's probably more than a decade ago.
But now it is getting, I think... more popular again.
It used to be like a niche habit more or so 10 years ago.
Because only middle school students would do that.
But now I think it's more, it's a huge demographic now.
And there are also stores popping up everywhere, currently that operating 24 hours a day, and people stay up all night to make Pindou art.
The stores are open 24-7.
Yeah, and people just pay to go to these handcraft stores, for example, in Beijing's Sanlitun.
3 a.m., can't sleep, gotta Pindou.
Kind of like a meditation, soothing experience.
Well, not for you, it wasn't.
No, it's because I need a pair of tweezers, apparently.
But for example, for a store in Beijing, Sanlitun, you spend roughly $13 per hour.
You can get a full Pindu package. which was sold over 5,000 times a year.
And that means more than 425000 yuan, which is more than 61000 US dollars in annual revenue for this single item.
Only for that one.
I mean, it is a wonderful thing, isn't it?
In the sense that it's an activity that can be done with parents and kids, grandparents and kids, kids and kids, and you could have fun with that.
And then couples would enjoy doing this too, I think, right?
Because you know you could make a little simple 2D thing that says I love you or whatever, something like that too.
It can be something that is really belong to you.
It's like a signature kind of thing.
And it is a good experience that you can share time with together.
So I think also that's one of the reasons that it is getting so popular, because it's that sense of accomplishment and also control, that you can just spend your time with your beloved ones and also create something together.
Yeah.
And if you fail, oh well.
Well, I think somebody enjoys, you know, trying different temperatures to see how to iron them into perfect state.
It's like baking.
Yeah, that's what I mean.
You know, you make like different trials until you reach that perfection.
But it's also easier than baking.
That is why it is even like almost impossible to fail, because you are just putting the beads to the place that it should be.
Fei Fei failed.
Yeah, I failed.
Because I don't have a tweezer.
Without a tweezer.
Okay.
But what I meant was, you know, if it doesn't turn out the way you want, no big deal.
Kind of reminds me of that one pottery class I took, right?
I thought I was going to be making this intricate, you know, very detailed, beautiful plant pot.
And it turned out like totally misshapen.
And I didn't know what I was doing, but I didn't care because I had fun.
And this sounds like a whole lot of fun.
And I guess that's One of the reasons that it is so popular with young people.
You mentioned it.
You get to hang out together.
It's low stress.
It's affordable.
It's easy to do.
And I guess it's kind of cathartic, right?
There's a bit of emotional healing.
There's that aspect to it as well.
Because making pindo requires repetitive and so detailed work that helps people concentrate and also relax.
Many parts users or players how can we call them enter a psychological flow state when you're just getting that kind of state of mind.
You forgot the time, you forgot what's the surrounding, you're just getting into the thing that you're doing and temporarily forgetting stress and also anxiety, and that is the part that people feel so therapeutic and would love to do that.
So the 2d one the 2d ones would be really easy right, but the 3d i i don't even know i what, and i watched a video on someone making a 3d.
Um, i forget what they were making.
It was a flower or something.
It's really beautiful, But I couldn't quite follow how they were doing it.
It's a different process.
It's much more complex, right?
What I could imagine is that you first of all create 2D pieces and then make them together because they're meltable right.
You can melt them.
You can warm them up a little bit and then bend them or curve them a little bit so that they can be the shape of a flower.
I felt like to do the 2D ones, a four-year-old could do that.
They shouldn't because you need a hot iron, but I just mean skill wise.
But the 3D ones, I felt like you kind of need to be an artist to pull these really nice ones off.
Yeah, you need to first of all design the pieces and then to figure out how to assemble them together.
And I think there are even, I would call them artists. that's developed different iron techniques.
They like what they call towel iron, glitter iron.
I don't really know what they are, but they give the bees different textures.
So there is one artist, for example, that that person used bees to make characters from Zootopia 2 and they have this fluffy texture and someone like plushy toys.
Someone is more shiny on the shiny side of things.
So people are getting creative at this point.
Yeah, right.
Because once you know how to do the basic ones, then you want to up your game, so to speak.
So is this just a passing fad?
I mean, I know, Yushan, you mentioned that it's not brand new, right?
It's been around for a long time, but for some reason now it became super hot again.
Is it just as likely to disappear or, you know, will this stick around for a while, because all these shops are popping up?
I think it will stick around for a while, because we've been mentioning that like emotional value economy has been so popular recently here in china.
People are just spending time, spending money, spending energy on the things that they that can make them happy.
So i think this is one of the also ways of people can actually just enjoy their time, and maybe with the people that they like and um, it is a very positive trend that people can see just um spending time and um have a better moment and really i mean sitting down and maybe rewind and also just enjoy the time.
And there's kind of an integration of offline and online here.
Yeah, because you could just go online and shop or see designs that you really really like and then think oh, i want to make that one, and then go to the offline shop and try it out yourself.
Well, there are also concerns, actually.
There are people raising concerns about, for example, some hidden safety hazards.
Some are saying that these products when you iron them, they release harmful gases may affect the artist's or the user's health.
So that's maybe something the industry needs to work on.
And I think also when it comes to you know, you spend several hours a day doing a very big piece of art Your neck.
Think about your neck.
Think about your shoulders.
Think about your eyes.
There are other health risks that can come with that.
So you're just switching one screen for another kind of, you know, spending hours working.
I also need to think about my neck, my, my, I would rather do.
And why have we not mentioned the plastic concern yet?
I don't know if these beads are biodegradable, but you know one artist 120000 beads over a 23 day project is What happens to those when you're not having fun with it anymore.
But anyway, that's another story for another day, I suppose.
Pindo, you can give it a shot and try it out.
See if you like it.
You're listening to Roundtable.
And when we come back we talk about moms and dads and grandmas and grandpas putting plastic on textbooks to cover them.
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You're tuned in to Roundtable.
I'm Steve today with Yuxuan and Fei-Fei.
Back-to-school season in China brings with it a familiar ritual for millions of parents or caregivers wrapping their kids' textbooks in plastic covers.
What was once a simple act of protecting books has evolved into a time-consuming, anxiety-inducing chore, one that contradicts environmental guidelines and strays far from the educational values of that it was meant to embody.
Parents will sometimes stay up very, very late at night to wrap dozens of books to the waste of plastic materials that eventually will end up in landfills.
The practice of book cover wrapping has become a bit of a controversial topic and it's raised a lot of questions.
I didn't know about this.
We were having a conversation in the office and I think it was Yushan who was asking me do parents do this in Canada?
And I said, I don't think so.
But as I was searching online, yeah, I found this to be a common blog post.
Like, what materials do you use to cover your kids' textbooks?
And now here in China, it's become a bit of a hot-button topic.
What I would say, what I may ask, is do you do this in Canada?
I wouldn't ask, do like parents in Canada, because it I think from my perspective, it's always been the students thing to do that, and I'm not sure why now parents is becoming the one who is being responsible to do that.
But anyway, it is a kind of a yes ritual when we're in like primary school or middle school even, And then many students just hope their textbooks still look brand new by the end of this semester.
And those who are more hands-on might use even large rolls of wrapping paper to carefully cover their books, even customized, colorful with different patterns.
Did your parents do this for you?
No, I do it by myself.
You did it by yourself.
Do you do this for your kids?
I don't.
I no longer do that for her anymore.
But I did that.
We did that together when she just started her primary school years.
Was that stressful for you?
Let me rephrase.
Was it as stressful as Pindo for you?
No, definitely.
I definitely enjoyed wrapping book covers.
Even when I was a kid.
You know, when I was a kid, we used, for example, used newspapers or used wall calendars.
Or sometimes, if I have the money, I would purchase a roll of paper with the patterns and colors I want.
So what's the problem here then?
Why has this become such an issue?
Is it because of the pressure that parents feel to wrap them in a certain type of way?
I kind of get it.
Like in current days, a lot of parents feel this obligation of doing a lot of things on behalf of their children.
It's mandatory.
I wouldn't say I'm not sure about other places in China, but at least in Beijing is not mandatory.
It's recommended, especially for the first years and second years.
When you are just entering school you are sort of not having the sense of protecting your textbook or value your books in general.
So I think this kind of ritual aims to create this value sense that you need to protect and value your books, no matter it's a textbook or just a reading material.
A survey of parents in major cities in China found that over 80 of parents have spent more than two hours wrapping books for their kids.
And some even pay third party services to do the job for them.
Now, I think that's the reason.
I'm sorry, it's on a personal level.
But I think that's the reason why these parents are so anxious is because the children themselves can perfectly wrap their own textbooks on their own, especially after a certain age.
So if parents feel the need to purchase services online, to do that, you need to rethink about what kind of Habits you are creating at your home to your children.
Oh yeah, you're paying people to do anything that yeah, It's something that you can do yourself, is something that you can do yourself independently, especially after, for example, the year of eight or nine, and But you're not giving that opportunity to the kids.
Is there pressure on the kids to to have a very neat and uniform looking book cover?
I'm trying to ask, is there pressure to have it look great?
Because when you're a kid and you come into the class, you bring your textbooks out onto the table.
Everybody else can see it.
So I can see how this might be a moment of pride and but also a moment of embarrassment, if it weren't done.
In some way, yes.
But I think the pressure is sometimes, or most of the times, comes from yourself.
You want to make your books look good.
And if you're not having a good cover of your book, you may feel embarrassed.
But I don't think you're.
I mean from my age.
Any of my classmates would mock.
My book is not covered with colorful paper wraps.
I don't think so.
Back in 2019, or as early as 2019, four central government departments, including the Ministry of Education.
They issued a circular advocating for a quote plastic-free back-to-school season end quote explicitly prohibiting schools from forcing students to use plastic book covers.
So it seems to me that this policy was looking to reduce plastic waste and also maybe be a little bit better for children's health.
Sometimes the plastic itself can be a very, very low quality, right?
I don't know if that policy has been very effective or not.
I don't think it's very.
I don't think it's a sort of a prohibition to the schools to.
But on the ground level, at schools, there are still recommendations coming from teachers to students that you need to wrap up your textbook textbooks, especially for primary school students.
But i think when i was in high school there is no such thing as you must wrap up your textbooks because you know a teenager.
They can take care of their own books.
So then, is this disappearing a little bit or is it still a?
Really is it kind of a hot issue when the new semester is about to start?
I mean, obviously, we're talking about it.
Parents must feel a little bit of anxiety about this, especially if they're paying a third party to do it for them.
Is it that big an issue?
I think the only change is that of course people are doing that thing long, long ago and the changes that maybe some of the teachers are making this kind of a mandatory thing.
I just had an idea.
Pindotextbook.
That's a bad idea.
It's not that durable, though.
It's very frustrating.
Did I say it was a great idea?
I said I had an idea.
It'd be heavy, wouldn't it, actually?
All right.
We're going to have to leave it there for today because we're out of time.
Thanks for being with us.
I'm Steve for Yushin and Feifei.
Have a great one and come back again next time.
