"I Just Want to Sleep in Peace"... Chinese Working Mothers Turn to Hotels for a Break from Childcare and Housework

Chinese Working Mothers Head to Hotels After Work
Some Catch Up on Sleep, Read, or Relax

The number of working women in China who are exhausted by childcare and housework and turn to hotels for a break on their own is growing. They tell their families they have to work late or go on a business trip, then book a hotel room to sleep, read, or simply enjoy some time to themselves.

Chinese Working Mothers Share Their "Hotel Vacation Diaries" on Social Media

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According to the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post (SCMP) on November 2 (local time), working mothers' accounts of staying alone in hotels to relax have recently been shared one after another on Chinese social media.

A 34-year-old woman who lives with her husband, her in-laws, and her daughter, who is in kindergarten, posted on Xiaohongshu that she had no space of her own at home. She said that even though her husband was generally considerate, she felt stifled, as if she had lost her everyday life.

One day, the woman told her family she had to work late and went to a hotel room after work. For four hours, she read books and watched TV, enjoying time without anyone interrupting her. "Being able to enjoy four hours of freedom for a little over 100 yuan (about 20,000 won) is well worth it," she wrote. "In that moment, it felt like I was on a date with myself."

Her story resonated widely on social media, receiving about 20,000 likes. Afterward, other working mothers also began sharing their own "hotel vacation diaries." An administrative worker in Changsha, Hunan Province, said she books a hotel room by the hour near her office every Thursday afternoon. She does so to spend time alone, playing rock music loudly, which her family dislikes, and eating luosifen, a Chinese rice noodle dish.

Some women also saw business trips as an opportunity to relax. Another woman in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, said she treasured the time she spent on business trips because she could walk around without her family interrupting her, put on a sheet mask, or binge-watch TV shows. Above all, she welcomed the chance to escape the constant calls of "Mom."

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Their stories also reflect the burden of housework faced by working women in China. According to a survey published in 2025 by the Zhaopin Research Institute, more than one-third of working mothers in China spend over two hours a day on housework. This is a much higher proportion than among working fathers.

For some working mothers, the so-called "second shift"—working during the day and then taking responsibility for childcare and housework after returning home—means that a few hours spent in a hotel have become a chance to escape the burdens of everyday life and enjoy some time for themselves.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.