In recent years, there has been a sharp rise in the number of young people dying in mainland China, but due to the authorities covering up the truth, it has remained unknown to the public. Recently, the sudden death of mainland internet celebrity Zhang Xuefeng has sparked a wave of discussions among netizens, who have shared cases of sudden deaths around them. Screenshots from some funeral homes have also surfaced online, showing that most of the deceased are young people, shocking many.
On March 24th, Suzhou Feng Xue NIO Education and Technology Co., Ltd. released an obituary stating that the well-known internet celebrity and educator, Zhang Xuefeng, passed away from sudden heart failure at the age of 41. Zhang Xuefeng’s sudden death has drawn much attention and discussion among the Chinese population.
On March 27th, a teacher from Hubei named Orange Teacher posted a short article: “On March 23rd, my colleague died suddenly just like Teacher Zhang.”
She recounted, “My colleague had reached the retirement age of 60 in January 2026, but the leadership wanted him to stay for another six months. After finishing evening self-study on March 23rd, as soon as he got into a colleague’s car to go home, he felt very uncomfortable. His colleague immediately took him to the nearest hospital, but he could not be saved, and the cause of death was myocarditis.”
She sighed, “One never knows whether tomorrow or an accident will come first. When I heard this news, my heart was filled with mixed emotions. Live well, love yourself well.”
What was shocking was the comment section below Orange Teacher’s post, with over a thousand people sharing stories before even reaching halfway through. Many netizens described how their young friends, relatives, neighbors, and colleagues had also died suddenly.
Mrs. Yaya from Guangxi shared, “My male colleague also died suddenly this month at the age of 36 due to excessive grief from his mother’s passing. He went home to handle his mother’s affairs, and the stress triggered a heart condition. He was the only child in the family, so now only his elderly father remains at home.”
Mrs. Icecat from Shanghai explained, “A colleague left on March 14th and also passed away suddenly. He was a marathon enthusiast, and his health seemed fine most of the time.”
Ms. Jin from Zhejiang shared that her 50-year-old colleague died shortly after joining the company, alarming the company to quickly arrange insurance for other new employees.
A woman from Jiangsu revealed, “My friend born in 1984 suddenly passed away last month. He went to the hospital alone in another city feeling unwell and died there.”
A woman from Shaanxi stated that she knew five people in her surroundings who were born in the 1980s and had passed away.
Ms. Momo from Guangdong mentioned her cousin, who was 51 years old, collapsed while returning from the bathroom at night, was taken to the hospital the next day, and passed away due to a heart attack. Their newly renovated villa was not even lived in for a year.
Ms. Leilei from Guangdong shared that her classmate suddenly died two weeks ago, a police officer who collapsed while on duty.
A woman from Shandong expressed, “There are too many sudden deaths due to heart problems now. In my partner’s family, in the past few months, two people in their twenties and thirties died suddenly.”
An 80s woman from Hubei said that a colleague she knew well had already died suddenly, with two others succumbing to cancer.
Ms. Shaoming from Guangdong mentioned that her boss passed away suddenly on the same day as Zhang Xuefeng, in his forties.
Ms. Li from Shandong recounted that her cousin’s husband, aged 41, also passed away suddenly. They slept in separate beds, and the next day when they found him, he had already cooled down, with blood coming from his nose and mouth. He had fainted outside in the afternoon and woke up before the ambulance arrived, thinking nothing was wrong. Little did they know…
Ms. Abby from Guangxi mentioned that their company driver also died from a heart attack but fortunately during a break while loading goods. If it had happened while driving, the consequences would have been severe, considering the compensation from insurance.
Ms. Maomao from Guangdong recalled, “Not long ago, my parents told me that three men in our village died last year, all in their early forties, due to liver cancer, heart attacks, and myocarditis. Sigh…”
A woman from Jiangsu mentioned her lawyer friend who passed away after working late nights and collapsing suddenly at noon. It was silent and unexpected. Colleagues found him by the table in the afternoon but it was too late.
In addition, many netizens have shared screenshots from funeral homes showing lists of the deceased, pointing out that most of them are not elderly, but rather young and middle-aged.
One netizen lamented in their post, “2026 has just begun, witnessing such data every day is truly frightening. This is just a small county where friends work. After seeing all this, what is there left to fight for or despair over? Everyone came into this world with nothing and will leave without anything! Only with health and happiness does the world belong to you, everything else is like smoke!”
Below the post were the funeral home’s “soul release notices,” listing numerous deceased individuals with their ages. A cruel reality is exposed through the lists: the vast majority of the deceased are young people. One image from March 18th of 2026 displayed the names of seven deceased individuals released within just an hour, with the oldest being 90 years old and the youngest only 17.
Another list from February 24th had the oldest person being 45 years old and the youngest 15, with other ages including 18, 25, 28, and 30.
Commenting on this, a netizen remarked, “This isn’t a top-tier three-A hospital in Beijing, Shanghai, or Shenzhen; this is just an ordinary small county!” Some questioned the delay in retirement, while others stated, “So social security shouldn’t be paid, spend money if you have it.”
Many netizens questioned whether the deaths were related to the three-shot vaccine: “After three shots…” “It all starts with three shots, my once lush hair is now a third of what it was, and now I have a knot. Yes, I’ve had it, but don’t say it’s an injection, if they give you poison, you have to drink it.”
However, due to the Chinese Communist authorities covering up death numbers in the post-pandemic period, the true data remains unknown to the public. The authenticity of the aforementioned lists has yet to be independently verified.
In recent years, there have been frequent reports of screenshots from electronic screens at mainland funeral homes, showing varying age distributions of death across different regions. In January last year, a screenshot purportedly from a Dongguan funeral home circulated online, indicating a high proportion of young people among the deceased. Only two out of eight people listed were locals of Dongguan, with all others being from out of town and under the age of 60, with the youngest at 14, 28, and 31 years old.
Recently, a mainland netizen shared an unmarked screenshot from a funeral home, displaying a high death rate among young people, with only one deceased person over 60 years old, while the rest were under 50, with the youngest being 15.
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been numerous cases of young people suddenly dying in mainland China. According to public records, between January and February this year, several young lawyers have passed away: on February 27th, Nanjing lawyer Xu Xuehan passed away at the age of 36; on February 25th, Shanghai lawyer Chen Weiwei passed away at 43; on February 6th, Sun Tao, a lawyer from Long’an (Nanjing) Law Firm, died suddenly at the age of 35; on January 2nd, Suzhe, a lawyer from Guangzhengda Law Firm in Zhejiang passed away at 36; on January 18th, Yan Yafeng, a lawyer from Shanghai Pumao Law Firm, passed away at 48 due to sudden illness.
In January, mainland residents informed NTD News that as the New Year approached, China faced another peak in the pandemic, with major hospitals and clinics overcrowded, while authorities concealed information. Locals from various regions and funeral industry insiders revealed that many elderly people had passed away, along with a significant rise in sudden deaths among young people, causing funeral homes and crematoriums to be overwhelmed, with some funeral parlors hiring additional staff.