Fan Yue, a 25-year-old graduate student living in Beijing, has been struggling with anxiety and indecision for most of 2023. She began attending her rewarding graduate program, but a rocky relationship with her partner left her insecure, unable to decide whether to end hers. About her employment after graduation. And like many others in China, she turned to the spiritual app Cece. With the ability to book her horoscopes, astrology charts, and even one-on-one chats with psychics, Juan relies on the app to gain peace of mind about her life. I’m doing it.
“For me, this is a way to seek meaning and solace in this absurd world,” Huang said. “In these uncertain times, I find myself clinging to external validation that brings me some sense of security.”
Faced with economic hardship and high unemployment, young people in China are increasingly turning to online spiritual services for guidance. The industry is growing despite government scrutiny of spiritual practices. According to market research firm Frost & Sullivan, China’s pan-mental health market is estimated to reach 6.68 billion yuan ($940 million) in 2023, and a further 10.41 billion yuan ($1.46 billion). ing. In 2025.
Backed by Tencent, Cece is China’s leading spiritual app. His MAU nearly doubled in his first year of the pandemic, and in 2021 his monthly active users exceeded 1 million. Users register by entering their birth time and location. The app uses that information to generate measurements based on your zodiac sign or astrology.
Astrology data can be shared with a human fortune teller within the app. For the equivalent of a few dollars, users can consult Cece’s “masters” in Clubhouse-like chatrooms, who specialize in areas such as relationship advice and career planning. “Does this chart say anything about my career in 2024?” a user asked the feng shui master in the Cece audio chat room in November. “2024 will be a tough economic situation for a long time, but when 2025 comes, your fortunes will improve,” the fortune teller told users about the hexagram (six horizontal lines, derived from traditional Chinese text, showing a person’s future). After examining the diagram (consisting of ), he answered: I Ching.
These fortune tellers are part of a growing number of spirituality gig workers, offering an empathetic listening ear at an affordable price. At Cece, for example, “masters” must pass work ethics and astrology tests before offering consulting services. Wages increase according to working hours. Abigail, who works for a state-owned company and asked to use a pseudonym to avoid being identified, has a side job at CSI. She works with over 1,000 users and her salary increased from about 3 yuan (42 cents) per minute to 10.80 yuan ($1.50) in 2021 . “What does he think of me?” is one of her most frequently asked questions, Abigail said. Rest of the world.
In addition to public chat rooms, Cece also offers private “listening” services from trained counselors. Zhai Liqin, 38, a self-taught therapist, spends three to five hours a day talking to users on Cece, which he charges 2 yuan (28 cents) per minute. . Zai began studying psychology on her own six years ago when she was a housewife. She enrolled in various online classes and eventually she became a certified social worker in 2021.
Now a mental counselor, Zhai logs into Cece for four to five hours a day to work while running an offline mental counseling business. Her prices are very different in person with her Cece. Her offline sessions cost 300 yuan ($42) per session, but with Cece she is available for 2 yuan (28 cents) per minute. “She likes working online as a listener,” she said. Rest of the world“It gives me more flexibility and allows me to take care of my daughter while earning some extra cash.”
Although the Cece app avoids the terms “therapist” and “counselor,” listeners still have to go through a lengthy qualification process. Once a Cece commitment is approved, listeners will list their training courses and certifications on their profile. Consultation fees range from 1 to 7 yuan (14 cents to $1) per minute, depending on the listener’s work history and popularity. Zai said listeners can’t decide their own rates.
Zai does not consider that she is undergoing Cece psychotherapy. “Cece listening sessions are only appropriate when dealing with users who do not have serious mental health problems. You cannot consistently work with clients through structured sessions, and listen sessions provide surface-level validation. “We only had the opportunity to provide this,” he said.
Experts say digital spirituality apps like Cece are no substitute for professional help, especially given the platform’s focus on fortune tellers, psychics, and other pseudoscience practitioners. I agree. Molly Lin, a doctoral candidate in psychology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, says, “To train certified psychological counselors who know how to deal with difficult issues such as boundaries with clients and their own subjectivity.” It takes thousands of hours.” Rest of the world. “Digital spirituality practitioners and listeners lack this specialized knowledge. This can be misleading and even dangerous when dealing with clients in delicate mental states. .”
“For me, this is a way to seek meaning and solace in this absurd world.”
Spiritual services often come under state censorship as the government cracks down on “feudal superstitions.” Social media platforms like WeChat have banned creators from profiting from “superstitious” services. When you search for keywords like “tarot” or “horoscope”, Xiaohongshu doesn’t show any relevant results.
Still, psychics have found ways to get around the ban, sometimes by advertising in English or using crystal ball emojis to indicate fortune-telling. Ting Guo, assistant professor of cultural and religious studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said: Rest of the world Outside of government control over religious practice, people are seeking alternative spirituality to help them live their lives.
“When the economy is in trouble, the consequences of choosing the wrong path are dire,” said Vivian Ma. Rest of the world. Ma Moonlight works as a psychic who reads tarot cards on WeChat. She says her psychic job pays about the same as her full-time job as a designer.
For spiritual businesses, maintaining visibility while avoiding government scrutiny is a delicate balance. “Starting a digital spirituality business in China is a fine line. Many apps aim to attract users by hinting at the paranormal, but be careful not to invite government crackdowns. “You have to,” said Coco Chen, co-founder of dream analysis app Dreamore. Rest of the world. Cece brands itself as a “panpsychology” platform.
When Huang, a graduate student, felt dissatisfied with his life, he often paid to see a “gurus” on the app, partly because it was much more affordable than psychotherapy. At Cece, her 30-minute call with a master costs her only 60 yuan ($8.40), but a therapy session on her app costs her 300 yuan ($42). Huang prefers to pay by the minute with Cece rather than being locked into hour-long repeat sessions.
In October, Huang got back together with his ex-girlfriend. Although her friends have described the man as “toxic,” Cece’s horoscope shows a strong compatibility. “I was just looking for a push in the direction my heart already wanted,” Huang said. “But you often don’t know what you actually want until you toss a coin.”
