Media Reports Chinese Parents Pay to Send Children to Experience Working at Big Tech; Public Questions Monetization of Parenting Anxiety

According to NTDTV citing mainland media and online reports, a trend of parents paying to send school children to "experience working" has recently emerged in various parts of China. Some big tech experience camps are highly priced, and the relevant details and business qualifications have not yet been independently verified.

According to the media outlet, this summer, parents in many Chinese cities were keen on paying to find "work" experiences for their children. These programs cover supermarket sorting, cashiering, and multi-day camps at internet giants, with prices ranging from a few yuan to over ten thousand yuan. The relevant details have not been independently verified.

The report cited individual cases, stating that a parent in Beijing spent nearly 8,000 yuan to enroll their child in a five-day, four-night experience camp at a big tech company, with the total cost exceeding 10,000 yuan including airfare. Students in the camp experienced choosing aliases, receiving ID badges, and teaming up to open online stores, but the concrete effectiveness of such commercial camps has not been independently verified.

In addition to high-priced camps, the report pointed out that some parents sent six-year-old toddlers to experience supermarket sorting to ease the childcare burden. Study tour organizations are accused of leveraging anxiety to promote such activities, with business already penetrating into second- and third-tier cities. The qualifications and compliance of these training programs have not yet been verified.

The media outlet also cited online public opinion stating that such experiences are essentially an expensive form of parenting "involution" (competitive rat-racing). Critics pointed out that paying money to beg for children to experience working under the context of a strict ban on child labor values form over substance, and the actual value may be extremely low. As of now, relevant industry regulations remain to be clarified.

What is Known

• According to reports from NTDTV citing mainland media, a hot topic has recently appeared on mainland Chinese social media regarding parents paying to send primary school students to "work" at big tech companies.
• The report mentions that the relevant career experience activities include low-cost supermarket sorting and cashiering, as well as high-priced study camps at big tech internet companies, with prices ranging from a few yuan to several thousand yuan.
• The report mentions specific cases, such as a parent in Beijing spending 7,980 yuan to enroll their fourth-grade child in an Alibaba independent camp; and a parent in Shanghai sending a six-year-old child to experience supermarket sorting and being a barista.
• Staff from a study camp disclosed to the media that their camp's registration fee is 3,000 yuan, with a student capacity of 300 to 500 per session, and the business has already penetrated some second- and third-tier cities.

Unverified

• The aforementioned cases and data regarding parental expenses, study camp enrollment numbers, and specific fees are all based on mainland media reports cited by NTDTV and have not been verified by an independent third party.
• Whether big tech companies (such as Alibaba) or related enterprises directly participated in or authorized these high-fee "career experience camps" remains unverified.
• The proportion of Chinese middle-class families for whom such paid "experience working" activities are common is currently unverified due to a lack of authoritative data.
• The operating qualifications, safety guarantees, and compliance with educational regulatory requirements of the training institutions and study groups involved have not been officially confirmed.

Sources

• New Tang Dynasty Television (NTDTV) — Original Report: 中國家長花錢送小孩「體驗上班」 引發關注
• 2026-08-27 00:00 UTC

• The material for this report is entirely derived from the article "Chinese Parents Spend Money to Send Children to 'Experience Working' Drawing Attention" published by NTDTV on August 27, 2026.
• Most of the cases and data mentioned in the original report are cited from "mainland media reports" or Weibo trending searches, lacking the names of specific original media and detailed investigative evidence.

Last Updated: 2026-08-27 16:07 UTC