In the article the two scientists investigate how kuqing - bitter emotions - are performed, amplified and circulated in the Chinese reality show X-Change, that was produced in the years 2006 to 2008. The analysis leads to the conclusion that the program engages in two opposing affective arrangements. While Kuqing appears to be recruited into neoliberal logics and individual subjectivity, it also circulates relationally and articulates with Confucian filiality and family ethics, weaving different social groups into an collectivist identity, thereby strengthening social cohesion.