In China - the land of hot noodles, steaming rice and warm soups - a new and unlikely food trend has swept across the country's social media platforms in recent weeks.
Plain sandwiches feature heavily among the images shared with the hashtag #whitepeoplemeals, a global social media trend that kicked off in China. (BWFolsom/iStockphoto/Getty Images)
People have been sharing images of what most would consider incredibly bland foods, such as raw carrots wrapped in cheese, two-ingredient sandwiches and dressing-free salads - all unified by a single hashtag: #bairenfan.
Translation: #Whitepeoplemeals.
You're unlikely to find depictions of roast turkey dinners or cheeseburgers when exploring the images attached to this hashtag. What you will find are unappetizing pics of no-frills, cold, assembled dishes that require little or no cooking time - the kinds of foods many Westerners traditionally associate with lunch.
The trend really started to take off in May, when people started posting photos and videos of these simple meals on social media platforms in China, though there are posts with the hashtag dating as far back as last October.
In one such video, a woman on a train in Europe unwraps a plastic bag of lettuce and a bag of ham. She bundles them together, adds mustard and starts eating.
Other posts feature photos of raw vegetables and basic sandwiches - think a single slice of bologna between two pieces of white bread - that Chinese netizens' international colleagues or spouses have shared with them.
As the trend spread, Chinese netizens around the world started sharing their own experiences with these minimalistic meals, making #bairenfan one of the hottest phrases on various platforms and local media in the last month.
The rapid evolution of #whitepeoplemeals
The photos begged the question: is that really what people in China think Caucasians eat all the time?
"I feel it's important to recognize that perception is an evolving concept," says British Chinese chef Andrew Wong, the third-generation owner of London's two-Michelin-star Chinese restaurant, A. Wong.
"China is awash with Western cultural references - art, philosophy, fashion, food. This has happened in a relatively recent and short timeframe given the history of China's relationship with the West. It takes time to adjust to understanding the reasons behind some things and that includes certain foods."
In this case, the trend took only weeks to evolve. At first, most of the posts shared in China were filled with mockery and disbelief.
"My Australian colleagues have expressed the 'don't-give-a-s**t' spirit of white people meals to the extreme. It was a slice of bread last time. Now there are two carrots. The only ceremonial effort was putting them in a lunchbox," wrote one user on Xiaohongshu, a popular Chinese social media site.
Another user shared a lunchbox photo of two carrots with some baby spinach and expressed concern over whether its owner could "generate enough energy" with so little food.
Others complained about feeling empty and soulless after eating such meals.
And then the trend hit Twitter, with English-language users sharing their own photos and videos with the #whitepeoplemeals hashtag. (One such tweet gathered 4.3 million views in the last 3.5 weeks.)
I found out today that on Chinese social media, there's a trending hashtag that translates to white people meals lol
"I was so tired I ate a white people meal today"
One of hashtags is also "white people meals are still meals" pic.twitter.com/VGdedgrV2F
— Yan Fan 📍Tokyo - we're hiring! (@yanarchy) June 2, 2023
Many Twitter users, beyond the Chinese community, found the hashtag hilariously true.
"Well, you can't argue with this," one user said.
A Japanese Twitter user recalled her own experience in the United States: "I was kinda surprised that I saw people just bringing veggies in ziplock for lunch when I was an exchange student in the States."
Back in China, as the hashtag went viral globally, some media reports expressed surprise at how quickly the international community embraced the stereotype.
Multiple outlets reported that a new trending topic had emerged - #Whitepeoplemeals have been discovered by white people - and recapped the lighthearted responses from users around the globe.
But that wasn't the end of it. Another group appeared from the shadowy corners of the internet to show support for these simple meals, with a new hashtag - #Bairenfanyeshifan, or #whitepeoplemealsmatter - popping up on social media platforms in China.
Some said eating such foods will help them lose weight. Others looked at the matter through a more serious lens, claiming the trend reflects the lifestyle and hardship of today's society.
One post on 163.com, a Chinese blog/media site, explored the parallels between these simple meals and the current "quiet quitting" mindset - the idea of simply slowing your progress at work instead of literally quitting the job - of the tired workers in China.
The post thanked the bland and comfortless meals for "maintaining their lives" without requiring much effort, especially during lunch at work. In other words, the no-hustle approach aligns with how little they care about their careers.
Another positive highlighted in the post: unlike full Chinese meals, these ones don't make you drowsy, allowing you to avoid the urge to take an afternoon nap while at work.
也不是不能吃，就是有点索然无味。
@网友小宋大胆去掉“有点”二字。
西式简餐（沙拉或三明治）吃起来就很“健康”的感觉，比起来我还是更喜欢不健康的“美食”哈哈哈哈
@十六一会儿健康一会儿不健康的吃法也不错，hrhrhrr
哈哈哈，对我来说有点吃不饱吃不饱。
@二猫概念就是主打不吃饱，冷食、三分饥。
涨姿势了，还是第一次挺说。
看看一个美国记者写的《我在底层生活的日子》，其实也差不多是这样。
@如是乎美国底层跟中国没有本质不同。