Zhu Guang, a 25-year-old product tester, is a university graduate, the only child of a pair of factory workers in Shanghai. He works for Lenovo, one of China's leading computer-makers. He earns 4,000 yuan a month after tax and says he feels like a faceless drone at work. He eats at the office canteen and goes home at night to a rented, 20-square-metre room in a shared flat, where he plays online games. He does not have a girlfriend or any prospect of finding one. "Lack of confidence" , he explains when asked why not. Like millions of others, he mockingly calls himself a di-aosi. Vividly it is a declaration of powerlessness in an economy where it is getting harder for the regular guy to succeed. Calling himself by this nickname is a way of crying out, "like Gandhi" , says Mr Zhu, " It is a quiet form of protest. "