A fortune-telling app powered by AI

FateTell uses large language models to read bazi, a traditional Chinese astrological chart based on birth date and time. The app has hundreds of thousands of users who pay annual subscriptions for spiritual guidance.

Escape from the 9-9-6 grind

Liangzhu has become a refuge for burned-out tech workers fleeing Beijing and Shenzhen. The town offers cheap rent and a culture of vibe-coding, building software through AI conversations instead of traditional line-by-line programming.

A town between rural and suburban

Residents call themselves villagers and enjoy sprawling grass fields, a rarity in major Chinese cities. The area has double the national birth rate, with strollers parked beside relaxing developers.

Whimsical products built on AI

Developers in Liangzhu create quirky consumer apps like FocusFlight, a timer simulating immersive flights, and YouMind, an AI workflow tool. These artisanal products contrast with the massive apps favored by China's tech giants.

Spirituality meets technology

The town blends traditional Chinese spirituality with Western New Age practices. Shops sell crystals and tarot cards while developers discuss AI models over oat-milk lattes, echoing Silicon Valley's countercultural roots.

Why young people seek spiritual answers

A Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter on Chinese religion explains that young people in the AI generation face existential questions. In a chaotic tech world, uncertainty feels acute, making spirituality appealing.

“Why one company succeeds and another fails can seem almost metaphysical.”

Levy's path from monk to founder

FateTell's founder once considered becoming a Taoist monk after a spiritual master told him he had a gift. Instead, he merged Taoism with AI, spending years meeting practitioners and reading classical scriptures.

DeepSeek's breakthrough moment

In late 2024, Chinese AI labs released open-weight models that stunned Silicon Valley. DeepSeek matched world-class capabilities at a fraction of American costs, with culturally attuned intelligence and elegant Chinese prose.

Fortune-telling as statistical modeling

Levy argues that bazi is a rigorous system of statistical decision-making. As reasoning models improve at coding and math, they must improve at fortune-telling, which he views as humanity's earliest data science.

“Fortune-telling is like food and shelter. It's a real human need, thousands of years old.”

A booming industry in China

China's AI fortune-telling industry exceeded one hundred twenty billion yuan in 2025, growing nearly forty-four percent annually. This outpaces most enterprise AI, driven by the same human need for spiritual guidance seen in Western therapy chatbots.

Xi Jinping's vision for Liangzhu

In 2003, Xi Jinping ordered quarries shut down and imagined Liangzhu as a spiritual home for the Chinese nation. He launched Digital Zhejiang to make technology central to the province's development.

Tech industry's crisis and rebirth

After China ended Zero COVID in late 2022, the tech sector collapsed. Major companies shed forty thousand jobs in 2022 alone. The AI boom offered workers a lifeline and a chance to build independently.

Master Qi's living room revolution

A former Beijing product manager with ADHD and dyslexia moved to Liangzhu and turned his spare room into a gathering spot for coders and investors. His living room brokered deals and became a local sensation.

“Somewhere to invite people in, like in Friends.”

North Defectors flee south

Tech workers call themselves North Defectors, referencing North Koreans fleeing to the South. In Liangzhu, a two-bedroom apartment costs three to four thousand yuan monthly, roughly the price of a single Beijing bedroom.

Competing gathering spaces emerge

Master Qi's living room faces competition from Crazy Thursday, hosted by tech influencer Tualatrix. Both have become modestly known scenes where visitors from Beijing, Shenzhen, and Silicon Valley network and demo projects.

“The place is full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers.”

Tim Cook visits Liangzhu

In March 2025, Apple's CEO made a surprise appearance in Liangzhu, visiting tech vloggers and signing MacBooks. The visit signaled international attention to the town's emerging tech scene.

Government backing arrives

Last September, the local government launched Digital Habitat Bay, an AI incubator offering subsidized space and venture capital matchmaking. Master Qi was invited to cut the ribbon as an honorary host.

The end of authenticity looms

Some founders worry that government attention signals Liangzhu's decline. One founder is already scouting new locations, believing the town has only a few years before it becomes something else entirely.

Making money in modern China

FateTell is one of the few AI companies in Liangzhu actually turning a profit. Levy acknowledges that making money in China in 2026 is often grim, hopeless work.

Ancient shamans and modern prediction

Levy climbs onto the roof at night to see bright stars above Liangzhu. He wonders if ancient shamans were doing something similar, using star maps to find patterns in chaos, just as he uses AI as a predictive instrument.