Reference News website, February 14 report: The British Broadcasting Corporation's website published an article titled "Going Chinese on TikTok: Netizens See It as a Resistance to Western Hegemony, Officially Endorsement." The following is an excerpt from the article:
The first thing in the morning is to drink hot water, wear cotton slippers at home, and cook apple and goji soup... These common behaviors among Chinese people and overseas Chinese have gradually become popular on TikTok and Instagram, with young people from different countries starting to imitate them, joking that they are "becoming Chinese."
This trend started about one or two months ago. On TikTok, the influencer Zhu Xirui, who has more than 700,000 followers, led this trend. She contributed multiple videos introducing the health wisdom of Chinese people and successfully popularized the hashtag "Becoming Chinese." Americans and Europeans began posting videos of themselves practicing the eight broom exercises and boiling apple water.
This trend quickly attracted over 20 million views on TikTok, with tens of thousands of participants, and gradually spread to other platforms as a phenomenon.
"Although I have heard some Chinese creators have mixed feelings about this trend, I think it is ultimately a good thing. The narrative about China in mainstream public opinion is changing, and honestly, I find it refreshing," said Claire, a Chinese-American influencer. "I think this meme-style trend can effectively undermine the U.S. narrative hegemony and encourage young people who were previously indifferent to politics to reflect on their own political beliefs."
Andy, an influencer from Italy, who studied in China for a year, also actively participated in this trend.
Andy said that in the summer of 2018, when he decided to study in China, his friends did not understand and worried about his safety. "I think I was learning to 'become Chinese' before this trend became popular," he said.
According to Claire's observation, the TikTok ban in January 2025 became a turning point in international public opinion about China. As TikTok faced the threat of being completely banned in the United States, many Americans turned to Xiaohongshu (Little Red Book).
Andy had a deep understanding of this. "I told my friends how I ate street food, shopped online, and ordered takeout. For the first time, they looked at this country with admiration, not from a position of superiority," Andy said. "Even without Xiaohongshu, people have begun to distrust the hypocritical political propaganda in recent years, and they have realized that China is not such a bad place, and may even have some merits."
Andy joked that his most direct feeling was that in 2019, when he returned to China, he tried to introduce "egg fried rice" to his friends, but they showed no interest. Recently, however, he became the core figure among his friends because of his egg fried rice skills.
Claire also had her own reflections. She believes that the shift in public opinion from the "Xiaohongshu craze" to the current "Becoming Chinese" trend is directly related to the growing disillusionment with the legitimacy of Western institutions.
In recent years, Americans have gradually realized that the "freedom" and "democracy" ideas they have long been exposed to have also been undermined by unconstitutional government actions.
After the trend went viral, the Chinese authorities also responded enthusiastically. Chinese official media also released articles stating that this was a symbol of China's enhanced soft power. With the support of the authorities, the public discussion about this trend in China has gradually increased.
"Although some people think this might just be a fleeting online trend, I tend to think about the broader social issues behind this online culture. The Z-generation is indeed better at turning everything into a joke, but regardless, this is a way for people to express their dissatisfaction with the current situation in the U.S.," Claire said.
On February 11, foreign tourists filled out entry information at the Pudong International Airport checkpoint in Shanghai. With the approach of the Spring Festival, Shanghai's ports have seen a peak in entry traffic. (Xinhua News Agency)
Original: toutiao.com/article/7606614902681109033/
Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.