What Makes Chinese People Happy? Insights from a Traditional Chinese Essay and a Hong Kong Cantopop

To many people, their life goal is to live a happy life. However, there are different views on what makes a happy life. For some people, they believe that a happy life is based on how much money one can earn. However, the relationship between income or GDP and happiness is not a linear one (Easterlin et al. 2010). For some people, they may equate achievement with happiness. While achievement may bring some happiness, it may also bring stress and burnout. Hence, the question of what makes people happy remains as a theoretical puzzle as well as a practical issue to be resolved.