Brief History of the Chinese Crypto Nomad Tribes
Discussion
By the Wamotopia organizers:
"The spirit of popup cities was born in China."
Countless words have already been spilled discussing network states, parallel societies, and popup cities by the deepweb intelligentsia on the Web3 corners of substack and TPOT. Yet, while theory is articulated in tedious mind-numbing detail in the west – praxis is building in the east. Nowhere is this more apparent than among the crypto nomad tribes of China.
This post will not add to the online debates or futurist speculation. Instead, this post is a work of internet anthropology and a TLDR on the arcane history of the digital nomad underground – intended for those those non-Mandarin speakers still waiting for their WeChat invite.
996 in China
While the mantra of the “rise of China” has become a banal truism – the shifting socio-economic center of gravity towards the east remains one of the most significant socio-economic factors in the contemporary anthropocene. We already know China surpassed the US in PPP (purchasing power parity) around 2014-2016, and since 1978, 850 million Chinese people have escaped the clutches of extreme poverty. China has dominated global manufacturing for 15 consecutive years (accounting for 28-30% of world production), has two-thirds of global high speed rail tracks, has the largest EV market (e.g., BYD), operates the only independent space station, and is the world leader in open source AI models.
However, this Faustian modernization has come with a socio-economic price – disproportionately paid by the youth. The term “9-9-6” — represents the grueling 9am to 9pm, six-day-a-week schedule demanded by megacorps and startups in Shanghai, Beijing, and Shenzhen. In short, the relentless pursuit of technocapital productivity leads to race to the bottom and bug-man workculture, mounting youth unemployment (> 20%), demographic contraction with a fertility rate barely at replacement rates (~1.0), and unsustainable real estate prices in tier-1 cities (often 43x median annual income). The term Neijuan (内卷) or literally translates to "inward curling" or “Involution” describes a game theoretic trap of ruthless competition which occurs in environments with finite rewards (limited university spots, fixed corporate headcount) but unlimited potential for effort. Painfully, as AI and automation accelerate these competitive dynamics will likely escalate to terminal velocity. This is the domain of Moloch, the god of coordination failure. The term "lying down flat" (躺平) emerges not as mere apathetic laziness but as a sophisticated and rational defection from the marginal utility of individual labor is increasingly swallowed by self amplifying feedback loops – leading to burnout society and learned helplessness.
For many young people, the only other alternative to 996 is 706.
706 - Chinese Co-Living Network
706 is a youth space (706青年空间) and the intellectual seed of the crypto-nomad movement. Founded in 2012 in Beijing's Wudaokou district, it started as a youth venue for discussions on philosophy, sociology, and technology. As physical spaces in Beijing became harder to maintain, 706 evolved into a "706 Protocol" – akin to freemasonic lodges. It shifted from a single physical community hub to a decentralized network of lounges and co-living hubs – these are usually open to the public and serve as “third” spaces outside work/home. 706 originally established a significant presence in Dali, providing the "software" (the people and ideas) to Dali’s "hardware" (the location). Today, 706 has physical nodes in Liangzhu, Berlin, the Bay area, London, Beijing, Shanghai, ChongQing, Chiangmai and across the world.
Physical Coworking & Co-living Spaces: The base locations i.e. physical co-working and co-living spaces serve as the physical hardware substrate – where members live together for weeks or months to work on specific open-source or social projects or come just for the vibe and culture, some simple for the affordable rent, others choosing to stay permanently.
The Spirit of Pop-up Cities: As a natural consequence of these mimetically fertile cross-pollinating spaces, temporary socio-digital operating systems merge (communities and DAO’s). These are often fueled by idealistic and techno-utopian hubs for exploration, co-creation, co-learning around various topics such as crypto development, longevity, or artificial intelligence. There are now countless roaming popup cities like ShanhaiWoo, (山海坞) and Zuzualu that moves across locations.
One such physical space is DNA (Digital Nomad ANJI) – who revitalized an abandoned bamboo processing factory into a dedicated campus for digital nomads. With countless others like 4Seas, NCC and CYC who weave together co-living and co-working networks for entrepreneurs, artists, and young people who can freely explore the world and themselves without permission or cost. While most see these as simply places to live or work, an increasing number of participants view themselves as "citizens" of a network or “netizens,” rather than residents of a specific country.
Dalifornia
What united this decentralized archipelago of communities is the ideology of "Dalifornia." Which began in Dali, in Yunnan province, China’s version of San Francisco — a haven for hippies, misfits, rebels, artists, hackers. Around 2022, Dali transformed into a Web3 Mecca for crypto-nomads who wanted to build public goods and alternative social structures away from the high-pressure environments of Beijing and Shanghai. Enabled by the low cost of living, beautiful scenery (Cangshan Mountains and Erhai Lake), and a culture of radical tolerance. Although the original Californian ideology and the counterculture movement of San Francisco the middle '60s listened to rock, grew out their hair, and took the acid test, Dalifornian’s listen to techno, dress cyberpunk, and biohack. While aesthetics change, the countercultural values remain much the same. Paraphrasing Hunter Thompson: Maybe it means something, maybe not – in the long run of history – but no explanation, no mix of words or music or images – can touch that sense of knowing that you are there and alive in that corner of time and the world. Whatever it means. There is a sense of the inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any military sense. We don’t need that. There is no point in fighting — on our side or theirs. Our energy will simply prevail. We have all the momentum. Surfing the crest of a high and beautiful wave."
More information
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