Probably not around at the time that the article's author's parents emigrated.
There are people doing more of the outdoor thing in China now. Probably none going about 20 years back. Last time I was there, there were recreational bicyclists (ie. taking them off the back of their car) in the cities, as opposed to my first visits where many more bicycles for their comute than cars.
Their prices (Carrefour and Walmart) are not really competetive though, they have (Carrefour) some special stuff not carried in other shops if you wanna buy foreign goods, but for regular grocery you are better off with Wumart, BHG (and for small Chaoshifa) or others.
I was especially stunned with how bad was Chinese Macro, you must buy in bulk, but you will get higher prices than small Chinese shops, in Europe they pretend to be wholesale where you msut buy in bulk, but at least their prices are oftena bit lower, often can't really compete with Kaufland/Lidl/Penny, but in China they didn't even try.
Anyway by the end of my 5+ year stay in China I was doing already my groceries though the app, delivered to my 5th floor apartment without elevator.
OPPO is Chinese brand, so dunno exactly how is it worth mentioning they have stores in China.
Most cities have plenty of hiking and camping groups you can join. Hiking and other outdoor activities have grown considerably in popularity in the last couple of decades.
Lots of stone path walkways which people will refer to as hiking, but isn't what most in Europe or the US would consider it to be. There are groups that build off old paths that connect villages or which were used for hunting. Some areas have really nice networks of trails, though, just not to the extent you'd find elsewhere.
Also, do people in China get out of the city to go camping for the weekend?
These are honest questions I'd like to have answers for.