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Happy Living: The LOHAS Concept

Fang Mei’ang extended her hands for some bread being handed to her by a shop assistant, but then she refused to accept the plastic bag he was going to wrap it in. "It's not environmentally friendly," Fang told the assistant with a smile.

Instead she asked the assistant to drop the bread into a bag she’d brought from her home.

Moving to Beijing from Hong Kong six years ago, her "weird" habits usually catch shop assistants off guard. However, the situation is becoming more common as more people are becoming acquainted with a catchy acronym: LOHAS.

LOHAS stands for Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability. LOHAS consumers are passionate about their environment, sustainability, social issues and health.

When it comes to China, the term is appropriately rendered as ¿÷ªÓ (lehuo), which means "happy living."

Indeed, delight is generated from "living" LOHAS to the max.

Fang was among the first LOHAS followers in Beijing. She believes LOHAS is an attitude towards life and a lifestyle, rather than just a trend or slogan.

With the strong influence from pop culture of Japan and Korea as well as the North America LOHAS has definitely hit Beijing’s shores in a big way. One can find magazines, department store ads and restaurants using LOHAS in their main branding and marketing campaigns. There are even department stores and restaurants called LOHAS that sell LOHAS-branded products with definitions of ‘Cultural Creatives’ translated into Chinese.

LOHAS can be invoked in any simple task in life, including making full use of both sides of a piece of paper, using recycled paper and taking public transport or riding a bicycle instead of using a private car.

The demand for organic foods and new ways of approaching life in a simple and holistic way is on the rise. Health and well-being is a very important component of Chinese culture. The country has a long-standing tradition of Buddhism and vegetarian cuisine is readily available. Healthy non-competitive sports such as yoga are popular and increasing.

Green building is being taught on university campuses and green principles are being incorporated in new building developments. Environmental awareness is being taught in elementary schools and rice companies are promoting organic rice farming. Hotels are promoting themselves as “green” by touting their low-energy consumption and their organic food menus. It is clear that Beijingers want to live healthier lives; hence the favourable view of the benefits of LOHAS.

Although many young people are firm advocates of environmental protection, they seldom pay much attention to their own health and lifestyle choices. But only when people take responsibility for their own life choices will it be possible to create a cleaner, healthier and more harmonious society. Enter LOHAS, which tolerantly addresses itself to individuals and accepts the "selfish" pursuit of LOHAS’s ideals.