January 27, 2026
SINGAPORE – Warm drinks, eating congee and wearing slippers indoors – these are some lifestyle changes adopted by social media users jumping on the “Becoming Chinese” bandwagon in 2026.
If you live on TikTok, you might have heard the phrase – “you met me at a very Chinese time in my life” – lately, a play on a line from the 1999 film Fight Club (“you met me at a very strange time in my life”).
While these habits are not peculiar to just those of Chinese origin – and not all Chinese like warm drinks, congee or indoor slippers – this trend appeared to have gone viral after American-Chinese TikTok creator Sherry Zhu posted a video on Jan 5.
“I’m gonna let you in on a little secret okay, tomorrow you are turning Chinese,” she said in the video, which has garnered over 2.7 million views. She added that by drinking hot water and wearing house slippers, among other things, people can “look good, feel good and manifest good things in the new year”.
Ms Zhu told media outlet Le Xiang Pinghu that she has been passionate about Chinese culture for a long time and that her non-Chinese friends are eager to listen and adopt such traditional habits.
“I’m delighted to see foreigners engaging with it,” she said.
What begun as humorous exposure to traditional Chinese wellness habits has become inspiration for people seeking to improve their health and well-being in the new year.
Several creators quickly started implementing Ms Zhu’s “tips on becoming Chinese” into their lives while documenting their experiences online.
Social media feeds are now flooded with porridge recipes, recommendations of slippers to wear at home, benefits of traditional Chinese medicine and how to practise qigong, an ancient Chinese exercise.
One TikTok creator, Nurse Blake, posted a video on Jan 22, thanking the newfound “becoming Chinese community” for encouraging him to drink a glass of warm water every morning, adding that his gut health has never been as good as it was now.
Other creators have also produced tongue-in-cheek videos such as “it has come to my attention that we are all suddenly Chinese, so make congee with me for the first time” as they detail a recipe for homemade congee.
Some have taken to incorporating more soups into their daily diet such as using snow fungus in soup to improve gut health. Goji berries and dates have also become the latest staple in the diets of many non-Chinese influencers.
But “becoming Chinese” does not just stop at food.
Chinese New Year and Chinese zodiac signs have also gained popularity as a result of this trend. Sharing that their start to 2026 had not gone as they had hoped, some are wishing for a fresh start when the Year of the Horse arrives on Feb 17.
Creators have taken to social media to talk about things they will be “shedding” before the Year of the Snake ends, in order to prepare for a fresh start to Chinese New Year.
These include letting go of friendships that no longer align with them and attachments that they have held on for far too long, said TikTok user Nikole.