Zhang Xiaohe Strikes Chord with China's White Collar Workers

Zhang Xiaohe is an online cartoon about office workers has become a hit in China. Zhang is characterized by his extra large block head. His name translates to "Zhang Little Box". The spokesman described the character creation as "The office building is like a box. The office is like a box. The apartment is like a box. The car, the subway, the elevator, the file, the desk, the chair and the book are like a box. It seems like everything is a smaller box inside a larger one.” Zhang Xiaohe and his world made of boxes have struck a chord with many young white collar workers. Many of them see the character as a reflection of their own lives at work.

Xiaohe, is a junior clerk. He works unpaid overtime, is awkward around girls and is afraid of his boss. His days are marked with uncomfortable commutes, piling paperwork and abuse by his boss. The creator of Zhang Xiaohe says the cartoon shows a more realistic white collar life that is often mischaracterized in China.

The image of white collar workers has been shining with a flavor of petty bourgeois in commercials and numerous art works. They are always presented sipping wine or engaged in something fascinating. But no one has tried to express the real bitterness and pain in their lives.

For many of China's young white collar workers, Xiaohe's boxed-in life is an entertaining version of theirs. Zhang Xiaohe represents the stories taking place around me every day, down to every detail. He has his own merchandize and a fan page where Chinese white collar workers share about their own struggles at the office.