I'm not saying the same happens in the west. Indeed, these are occurrences unique to China. I've never understood the appeal of the shopping streams, so I can't say for sure what's behind the first image. Meanwhile, misguided focus on technical skill over the essence of art combined with draconian educational values are behind the second image.
they are mass-producing art to please their elites
The only people who see the art are the 9 judges who have their internet-capable devices confiscated until they judge everything. They have to filter out the images and compare them meticulously for accuracy instead of pleasantry. After that, they have to do it again for the arts Gaokao. Nobody else sees the art, and even if they did, I doubt anyone would be pleased by what aims to be carbon copies of the same image. The stupid system harms the only people who see the product as well.
Likewise I can't find any image of any food or drink being used.
If you look at https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-grueling-hyper-competitive-exams-decide-futures-chinese-art-students, there's an outstanding example of tea near the bottom-left corner.
They usually can't, hence why they're doing it.
I don't see how that article reflects your claim. In fact, it says that passerbys ask the streamers, "Why don’t you find a normal job?". At most, it does say that some were drove off livelihoods and forced to stream by the COVID era, which involved stupid restrictions that the government finally relaxed a few months after the article. There are also a lot more white-collar jobs. That said, I've never been to Guilin, so take what I say with a grain of salt. Hair salons in Hangzhou reopened at most by mid-2021, though it may have intensified in late 2022, which is right after I left.
would've fooled me. You're the only one defending the images and saying the same happens in the West.
Such "us vs them" mentality is why my country and so many others are currently so divided and leads certain people to believe in authoritarian rule of utmost hierarchy.
even though episode 2 was kinda meh