Why are China's post-80s generation starting to dye their hair yellow?

Because when they were young, they didn't dare to rebel.
As children, school told them to be obedient, sensible, and get high scores; as adults, society told them to work, buy a house, get married, and have children; as entrepreneurs, they told themselves to take responsibility, make money, and survive.
It's not that they never thought about resisting, but at every stage, there was always something more important than rebellion.
At twenty, they didn't dare to rebel, for fear of losing the future;
At thirty, they didn't dare to rebel, for fear of losing the family;
At forty, they didn't dare to rebel, for fear of losing everything they had accumulated.
Until one day, they realize that youth has passed, their bodies are aging, their productivity is declining, and society no longer expects them to create more value.
Finally, they dare.
So some start growing long hair, some start riding motorcycles, some start getting tattoos, some start dyeing their hair yellow.
But this rebellion is no longer about changing the world; it feels more like an ideological rebellion delayed by decades—a revolt against the lifelong role of being the "right person."
Only, this kind of freedom often comes with a cruel premise:
That a person has already been used up by this era for a lifetime.