The proliferation of camping in China following the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020 marks a significant sociocultural phenomenon. This study examines camping as an outdoor lifestyle through the lens of cultural consumption, analysing its aesthetic dimensions – naturalness, playfulness, and nostalgic imagination – as expressions of broader societal shifts. I contend that China’s recent camping boom reflects a collective turn towards wellness-oriented living, animated by growing ecological awareness and a rejection of urban modernity’s excesses. Grounded in the theoretical frameworks of Pierre Bourdieu, Max Weber, and Anthony Giddens, this research interrogates the relationship between lifestyle media ecosystems and communal consumption culture. The study identifies two critical tensions within China’s outdoor lifestyle trends. First, while camping promotes ideals of individuality and self-actualization, it remains tethered to the consumption-driven lifestyle media ecosystem. Second, ideologically, the ‘wellness’ narrative epitomized in outdoor lifestyle prioritizes aesthetic escapism while also bends towards unpolitical environmental awareness. Finally, this analysis explores how lifestyle communities – forged through shared aesthetic practices and mediated by digital platforms – reconfigure social kinship dynamics.
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