“You met me in a very Chinese time in my life.”
That line has been popping up across TikTok feeds as non-Chinese creators film themselves boiling apples, sipping hot water, practicing Qigong — a traditional Chinese martial art — and soundtracking it all with traditional Chinese instrumentals or clips from Mulan.
“We are going to drink hot water every day, first thing in the morning,” said Miami-based TikTok user Simplysashanoel. “It helps with bloating, helps with skin,” she added in the video detailing her attempt to become a “Chinese baddie.”
“Our new year starts on February 17,” she said, referring to the first day of the Lunar New Year. “We’re wearing house slippers.”
The video uploaded in January has racked up about 1.4 million views.
Others have posted videos eating congee, a savory Asian rice porridge, and following traditional Chinese medicine rituals. On the first day of Lunar New Year, several non-Chinese TikTok users posted about following the Chinese tradition of not washing their hair to prevent washing away fortune and good luck.
The internet is calling it “Chinamaxxing.”
Chinese soft power at play
“Chinamaxxing” suggests a significant shift in how American youth view China, experts said.
Jacob Cooke, the CEO of Beijing-based e-commerce consulting firm WPIC Marketing + Technologies, said Americans were not encountering a static or traditional image of China on TikTok, but rather a “modern, aesthetic, and confident” one.
“American influencers are visiting China and showing off modern cities and lifestyles that look nothing like the image of China that many Americans grew up with,” Cooke said. “That is a powerful corrective.”
Cooke said that the congee, hot water, and house slipper trends are “comfort practices” that resonate because they are accessible and intuitive. He said that rather than being a geopolitical question, China is now becoming “a source of food, aesthetics, fashion, and lifestyle content” that young Americans find appealing.
Allison Malmsten, a public research director at China-focused strategy consultancy Daxue Consulting, said the “Chinamaxxing” trend was partially a result of a “mass exodus of TikTok users to Xiaohongshu” last year when TikTok was set to be banned in the US. Xiaohongshu, or Rednote, is China’s version of TikTok.
She said this gave American Gen Z insights into the daily lives of Chinese Gen Z. Chinese brands like Pop Mart have also increased the appeal of Chinese culture, she said.
“China’s soft power is rising, similar to that of Japan in the 2000s when everyone watched anime like Pokémon or Dragon Ball Z, and played Nintendo games like Zelda and Mario, which correlates with a fascination with Japanese culture among millennials,” Malmsten said.
“Chinese culture is increasingly seen as cool,” she said.
Chinese creators have mixed feelings
Part wellness experiment, part aesthetic role-play, the trend hasn’t sparked outrage, but rather drawn encouragement from many Chinese commenters based in the US.
“You’re doing really good hydrating yourself, I’m proud of you,” said TikTok user EmmaPeng, who’s based in San Francisco. “My culture can be your culture.”
TikTok user Lynn, a New York-based creator, said in a video posted last month that her “mom and grandma would be proud,” adding, “What took y’all this long to catch on?”
Many commenters were quick to distinguish the trend from cultural appropriation.
“Appreciation for a culture is totally different than appropriation,” one user wrote under a viral “Chinese baddie” broth-making video by creator CeCe.
“As an ethnically Chinese woman, THANK YOU for influencing me to be more culturally Chinese,” another commenter said.
Several non-Chinese creators have credited TikTok user sherry, who brands herself a “Chinese baddie,” with popularizing many of the habits. She’s received comments ranging from, “What’s the benefits of drinking hot water? I’m a new Chinese” to affectionate nods like “Chinese mama.”
For some Chinese people, the trend lands differently.
“I personally find all that really wholesome,” said Christina Young, a TikTok user based in New York City, but added that it has also made her feel “slightly weird having experienced racism.”
“It’s really striking that being Chinese is trendy now, as a couple of years ago, it was a legitimate risk for you on the streets,” she said in a video uploaded last month.
“Just be mindful because while some of you can opt into being Chinese for your wellness, real Chinese people are still dealing with racism toward their cultures and foods, on a day-to-day,” she added.
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