Memes about becoming Chinese have circulated with increasing frequency in 2026, becoming a viral trend on TikTok.
Over the past year, people online have joked about becoming more Chinese. The trend has grown to include videos of white boys living their best lives by puffing cigarettes, squatting, drinking Tsingtao beer, and generally appreciating Chinese culture.
So what is the viral trend about becoming Chinese, and how did it start?
What are the viral Chinese jokes on TikTok?
One of the earliest examples of the viral trend was posted in 2022 by TikTok user Papist Dalton, who shared a video of himself going to heaven—only to discover that heaven is Chinese.
“No, it’s fine, I just… I just didn’t think it’d be Chinese,” he said in the video, which eventually spread on other platforms.
A viral tweet last year, originally from the user @girl_virus, read, “You met me at a very Chinese time in my life.”
The tweet is a play on a line of dialogue from the 1999 movie Fight Club in which Edward Norton’s character says, “You met me at a very strange time in my life."
How have the memes about becoming Chinese evolved?
In more recent months, there’s been a major evolution in the memes about appreciating Chinese culture.
As explained by TikToker Emma Peng, there have been a lot of videos of Americans indulging in Chinese customs like drinking hot water with lemon and honey, eating congee, and using traditional Chinese medicine.
“I just want to say that my culture can be your culture,” Peng said. “You’re doing really good hydrating yourself, I’m proud of you. I am so glad I met you at such a Chinese stage of your life.”
Alongside videos of Americans enjoying Chinese culture, a wildly popular comedy sketch shared on TikTok last year showed a guy wearing glasses that revealed people’s “true character." In the sketch, the man finds out one of his friends is actually Chinese.
Are the jokes sincere or ironic?
Both. As explained in a video shared by anthropology page AnthroDorphins on Instagram, the "becoming Chinese" trend is "ironic, but it’s also weirdly sincere.”
Theories about why the trend has kicked off range from the political climate amid a bitter trade war between the U.S. and China to a backlash against American messaging that China is the enemy.
China’s "soft power" has also changed dramatically over the past few decades, Anthrodorphins said, with video content changing people’s perception of the country as a place for cheap manufactured goods.
Platforms like TikTok show Chinese people just living their lives, and perhaps some Americans are tired of an increasingly monocultural environment in the U.S.
“‘Entering your Chinese era’ isn’t really about becoming Chinese," Anthrodorphins explained. "It’s more like daydreaming under all this political tension about a different kind of modern life, one that didn’t slide into constant loneliness, burnout, and chaos.”