> Why is it suddenly becoming popular outside of China?

USA always loved slave labour. That's how it got rich. There were some issues in the 60's when some coloured people demanded rights, but this was quickly solved. /s

Because the engineers are coming here to work

Expressions of asceticism has always been popular with some personalities. It crops up in various new forms every once in a while, "monk mode" was big a while back, and 996 has a lot of the same appeal, you also had Steve Jobs famously living off the floor in his apartment.

I think the appeal is about structure more than anything else.

Because the job market is worse and employers have forced down engineers' bargaining power. And it's a virtuous cycle for them: the more overtime an employee works, the fewer employees they need to hire. On a societal level, this makes jobs even scarcer, which makes employees more desperate, and more are willing to work overtime.

I'd like to think the rebrand was just someone having the foresight to get ahead of its sad eventual move to the west.

Thanks Steve!

It's not

Well, some shareholders, ceo and some presidents of vices have a great family life.

its just the boomer pension funds going bankrupt demanding the children return to the mines. Give them nothing , the faster this madness burns out, the faster the slavery ends and normal societal economic activity returns .

A economic crash with a renegotiation of circumstances seems preferable to a lifetime of slavery.

The floor plan looks like a game of Tetris, mate :-) I clearly see there 3 generations of owners. Congrats, good luck - and enjoy it! Never look back.

1.6 Gigabit Internet? Just had to rub it in didn't you!

Just kidding. Looks glorious. Congratulations!