'Guochao': China's younger generation embracing domestic brands

Monday marks China Brand Day. Data shows that Chinese brands are winning increasingly more consumers

in recent years, especially among the younger generation.

The percentage of keyword searches for Chinesebrands surged to more than two thirds among all the searches on Baidu, up from only about one-third 10 years earlier, according to a report jointly released by the search engine and the Research Institute of People.cn.

The trend is usually dubbed "guochao," or "Chinese fashion trend," which has driven demand for domestic brands and products that often incorporate Chinese traditional culture and style.

Its main followers are millennials born between 1980-95 and Generation Z born between 1995-2010.

Unlike the older generations who could have attachment to Western culture and brands, Chinese youth were born and raised when the country's economy and  wealth were taking off, catching up quickly with Western  counterparts. The younger generation tends to have strong and genuine confidence in their national identity and traditional culture.

To win young customers, these domestic names are making products with high quality and appeal by strengthening research and marketing efforts.

Mars rocks collected by Perseverance boost case for ancient life

NASA's Perseverance Mars rover has now collected two rock samples, with signs that they were in contact with water for a long period of time boosting the case for ancient life

on the red planet.

"It looks like our first rocks reveal a potentially habitable sustained environment," said Ken Farley, project scientist for the mission, in a statement Friday. "It's a big deal that the water was there for a long time."

The six-wheeled robot collected its first sample , named "Montdenier" on September 6, and its second, "Montagnac" from the same rock on September 8.

"An interesting thing about these rocks as well is that they show signs for sustained interaction with groundwater," NASA geologist Katie Stack Morgan told a press conference.

The scientists already knew the crater （坑洞）was home to a lake, but couldn't rule out the possibility that it had been a "flash in the pan" with floodwaters filling up the crater for as little as 50 years.

Now they are more certain groundwater was present for much longer.

"If these rocks experienced water for long periods of time, there may be habitable niches within these rocks that could have supported ancient microbial life," added Stack Morgan.