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There’s a lot going on here, to say the least.
In recent weeks, one particular trend has taken several Chinese social media platforms by storm. At its core, it’s quite literally just people posting pictures of American-style lunches — think: veggies and dips, crackers and cold cuts, sandwiches on white bread — and referring to them as “white people’s food.” But there’s more to it than meets the eye. A lot more, actually.
The trend is purportedly said to have started in late May, when a Chinese woman in Switzerland posted a video of a European woman while riding a train. In the video, the European woman assembles her lunch, which consists solely of a “bag of lettuce” and “slices of ham.”
Xiaohongshu / Via xiaohongshu.com
Chinese commenters were quick to jump in with their own surprising experiences of witnessing European and American colleagues eating similarly low-effort, vegetable-heavy meals. The original poster’s caption roughly translates to “the locals’ tricks always shock me in new ways.”
This viral video sparked a wave of online discussion in China around these “healthy” meals attributed to white people. Chinese news outlets published articles asking ex-pats for their perspectives on their colleagues’ lunches, and many social media users continued to reveal the “rabbit food” lunches they were seeing daily.
But the people allegedly responsible for turning this niche discussion into a mainstream internet event in China — which at some point adopted báirén fàn (or “white people’s food”) as an unofficial moniker — were young professionals, who praised how straightforward and prep-friendly these meals were. It’s important to note that typical homemade lunches in China can be incredibly labor-intensive, involving many different ingredients and requiring lots of time and energy to assemble. These “trending” dishes, however, were not.
Digipub / Getty Images
For many of these young professionals, preparing “white people’s food” was a welcome change of pace when cooking after a long day. A Chinese blogger wrote that they “used to love watching cooking videos and trying out new recipes,” but eventually found it too tiring. “As a laborer, I don’t have much free time after work,” they added. It actually speaks to a more significant movement of young people fighting back against China’s “996” work culture, where people work from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. six days a week.
Kevin Frayer / Getty Images
On China’s lifestyle-sharing app Xiaohongshu — which is kind of like Pinterest meets TikTok, as I understand it — photos and videos of people making their own “white people” lunch creations went totally viral. While captions attached to several posts appeared to poke fun at these dishes, many social media users actually expressed how pleased they were with them. One even suggested that the inherent lack of carbs helped them to stay more focused at their job and fight afternoon drowsiness.
Xiaohongshu
Still, amid those touting the “health benefits” and approachability of “white people’s food,” the trend hasn’t been without its opponents. Another Chinese blogger referred to these types of meals as the “lunch of suffering.” A commenter on Xiaohongshu suggested that “if such a meal is to extend life, what is the meaning of life?” And in perhaps the most scathing take out there, a Weibo user shared this caption with a photo of a Lunchables-like tray of crackers, cheese, and meat: “The point of the white people’s meal is to learn what it feels like to be dead, but I’ve taken two bites and it was so bad it made me realize how alive I am.”
In the past 24 hours, “white people’s food” has officially made its way beyond these Chinese-exclusive social media platforms and found itself trending on Twitter.
There’s a new trend in China where people make and eat spiceless “white people lunch”, as form of self torture.
And their commentary has me crying 😭 pic.twitter.com/aRfK3VStaD
— Del Walker (@TheCartelDel) June 13, 2023
Twitter: @TheCartelDel
And it’s bubbling up on TikTok, too. Chinese TikToker Marcelo Wang’s video is particularly helpful in understanding this phenomenon. “Chinese people are so used to cooking with a lot of different ingredients,” he said, suggesting just how stark the contrast in preparation can be for many living in China.
Marcelo Wang / Via tiktok.com
He then goes on to translate several captions from social media users posting their own “white people meals,” like “Can someone please help me to check if my meal is standard white or not?” and “Even my rabbit would kick away this food.”
Xiaohongshu
This consequently put everyone in the mood to roast themselves. (We love the humility.)
But moving forward, it looks like the mostly positive reaction to the “white people’s food” trend may actually have the power to shift China’s lifestyle social media landscape a bit — at least temporarily. Several Chinese outlets have reported a spike in recipes and cooking videos on social media that require few ingredients and offer minimal cleanup, which is allegedly a huge departure from the types of videos that typically trend on platforms like Xiaohongshu. These videos have apparently already collected millions of views, and they show no sign of slowing down.
Xiaohongshu
Anyway, if you’ll excuse me, I have a half-eaten bowl of carrots and hummus that’s calling my name. If you have thoughts on the “white people’s food” trend, drop ’em in the comments below. 👇
