On May 25, Chinese novelist Yu Hua posted a short video on social media titled "What Is a Caotai Team?" In the clip, Yu and three very different people shared their stories: a 16-year-old middle school student who taught himself documentary filmmaking; a food delivery rider who has been delivering for eight years while writing for 38 years and is now known as a "delivery poet"; and a young man from a small town who builds model airplanes by hand.
Together, through the details of their lives, they offer their interpretation of "caotai banzi"—a popular phrase often used to mock a "makeshift," rough-around-the-edges team. Near the end of the video, Yu Hua throws out a line that no one expected to resonate so widely: "Caotai is the best team." The response was immediate and massive.
In the comments, the creator behind "Zhang Xue Motorcycles" jumped in with a punchline of his own: "Who cares if it's caotai or not—just build the team first, and turn your caotai stage into an awards stage." Countless others followed with riffs, remixes, and relay-style jokes.
But once the meme went through this wave of playful "reverse interpretation," many people suddenly realized: the phrase carries another layer of meaning. "Caotai" can also imply opportunity—and possibility.
Consider the backgrounds involved. Yu Hua trained as a dentist. The poet Wang Jibing wrote while delivering food. And the founder of the now-viral "Zhang Xue Motorcycles" started out as an apprentice in a motorcycle repair shop. Today, they are all top names in their respective fields. Yet their starting points were undeniably "caotai"—informal, unpolished, even unlikely.
When they speak this way, they are, in effect, speaking up for the grassroots and the underestimated: no matter where you start, you may still reach the moment when a dream becomes real.
This is why "caotai banzi" is no longer merely a joke about how crude reality can feel. It is gradually becoming a renewed recognition of ordinary people's vitality. "Caotai" does not necessarily mean low-end or unprofessional. In the process of experimenting, breaking through, and pushing forward, passion and persistence can reshape it—little by little.
In truth, that is also the lived condition many people recognize today. In a world that changes by the hour, few career paths remain fixed, with a clear "best practice" from the start. The rise of AI alone is rewriting the rules of countless industries. And in the AI era, many of us are actively—or reluctantly—becoming "caotai" ourselves:
Writers have to learn video production. Humanities graduates learn to code. Trainers learn livestreaming. People cross fields, start over, and repeatedly "reassemble" their skills, experience, and even identity under uncertainty.
From another angle, a society that can accommodate continual innovation and boundary-crossing is something to celebrate. It suggests a high degree of freedom and the ability to reorganize and recombine resources. Imagine if there were no open submission channels, no publications willing to take chances, no mature supporting supply chains—figures like Yu Hua or Zhang Xue would be far less likely to stand out.
In that sense, "caotai" itself represents a possibility—an invitation to imagine. It hints that in many fields today, success is less strictly tied to pedigree, major, certificates, or formal credentials. It allows ordinary people to test, fail, and iterate. One doesn't have to become a "standardized person" first. Sometimes, daring to try is already the beginning of a real chance.
Take one more example. Many well-known private enterprises started exactly this way: a handful of people, a makeshift team, an individual household business, or a family workshop, slowly growing through door-to-door hustle and steady reinvention. That trajectory shows that upward mobility, recombination, and growth are still possible.
Perhaps this is why the line "Caotai is the best team" resonated so strongly. It goes beyond an internet catchphrase. It captures something real about the present moment—its uncertainty, its improvisation, and its hope.
Yu Hua and Zhang Xue are leaders in their fields. When they call themselves "caotai," it is both a sign of modesty and an encouragement to those coming after them. There is no need to romanticize a "caotai team," nor to sneer at it. It is simply another expression for innovation, breakthrough, and perseverance.
New things will continue to emerge. The only way forward is continual self-renewal. If there is something you want to try, perhaps you can let go of the burden of perfection and start from zero.
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