How do you spend your weekends? For many young people, they go to the cinema with friends, have dinner out, or go shopping. This was once the routine for Zhang Yiling, a 27-year-old girl from Shanghai. But three years ago, fresh out of university and starting her first job, Zhang recognized that her idea of"relaxing weekends" nearly turned into "spending money". If she didn't spend money on weekends, she wouldn't know what relaxing activities to do. Because of this, Zhang began to look for other ways to enjoy weekend life, not just shopping.
To make a change, Zhang and 26 friends built up The Lifespark Group in 2022. They started a project called "Make Your Weekend a True Break" By doing surveys, they found many surprising ways to enjoy weekends, such as dancing and exercising in a park square,joining book clubs, watching movies at home, or even becoming a model for free photos.
Zhang herself also began to pay closer attention to the interesting things around her. She found that a flower shop near her home gave free lessons on weekends. She learned about how to pick fresh flowers and grow plants. "I take care of my plants and flowers every day. I enjoy looking at them growıng strong. That makes me feel relaxed."
"I hope that our project can make more people know what they really want and how to use money in a right way," said Zhang Yiling. "Let's go to the library to read about different lives we never experience and visit museums to learn about history or culture. We can also spend an afternoon looking through old pictures with our family."
