Young Chinese Ease Their Angst Over Economy by Playing Lottery

  • Ticket sales surged as youth unemployment climbed to record
  • Nation’s young face tougher economic climate than parents did

People purchase lottery tickets at a kiosk in Shanghai on Jan .26.

Photographer: VCG/Getty Images

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Lottery shops in China are ditching bland storefronts to reinvent themselves as hipster hangouts, with slogans that tempt youngsters hit by an economic slowdown with the lure of getting rich quick.

“We should still have dreams, who knows one day they may come true?” reads one sign at one lottery store in Chongqing, in southwestern China. With sleek outside seating styled like a trendy cafe, its tagline is “more than just a lottery shop.”