In 2026, It Has Become Trendy For Americans To Identify As “Chinese”

Just when you think that social media can’t possibly get any weirder, something comes along to prove you wrong.  Within the past few months, it has suddenly become very trendy for social media users to identify as “Chinese”.  I can understand having an appreciation for the positive elements of another culture, but people are taking this way too far.  Sadly, we live at a time when so many people have become convinced that they will finally be happy if they can just become someone else.

41-year-old Noe Bryant has been an African-American woman all her life, but she told the Wall Street Journal that in 2026 she has become Chinese…

Noë Bryant spent 41 years identifying as African American. This year, she became Chinese.

Inspired by viral videos on social media, Bryant dragged her husband and two children to their local Asian grocery store in Austin, Texas. She asked ChatGPT which Chinese pantry staples she should buy and spent around $200 stocking up on soy sauce, goji berries and other ingredients.

“I told ChatGPT, ‘I want to become a Chinese baddie,’” said Bryant, a stay-at-home mom.

There is nothing wrong with eating some Chinese food, drinking warm drinks and wearing house slippers.

But those that are practicing “Chinamaxxing” are taking things to an entirely different level.  According to the Wall Street Journal, those that are into “Chinamaxxing” are trying to become “the most Chinese they can be”…

Across the U.S. and Western world, non-Chinese people are embracing Chinese lifestyles. In Gen Z parlance, they’re “Chinamaxxing”—becoming the most Chinese they can be.

Drink hot water, never cold beverages. Don’t walk around the house barefoot. Do longevity exercises. The newly converted Chinamaxxers are obsessing over daily habits that are as second-nature to many Chinese people as brushing their teeth.

This is what happens when people spend way too much time on social media.

A few TikTok users started promoting the benefits of Chinese culture, and now many of their followers are taking things to extremes…

On a small corner of the internet, people are wearing house slippers, drinking apple-infused hot water, gua sha-ing and raiding H-Mart to load up on jujubes and experiment with herbal medicine and Eastern wellness practices. The narration: “Day one of becoming Chinese.” “I’m at a very Chinese time in my life.” “Chinamaxxing.” “Chinese baddies.” The simple declaration of them all: “I am Chinese.” Spoiler: Many of the creators behind these videos are not. As a Chinese/Taiwanese-American, I’ve had mixed feelings since catching wind of this trend.

It all started with a 22-year-old TikTok user named Sherry Zhu.

She started telling everyone that they are Chinese, and her videos started to explode in popularity…

It all began when Sherry Zhu, a 22-year-old in New Jersey with family roots in Shandong and Zhejiang, China, decided to assertively tell everyone on the internet, regardless of their race or ethnicity, that they are Chinese. People gleefully ran with it. The joke has continued to evolve to the point where ostensibly non-Chinese people are showing off habits that would make my grandma’s eyes water with pride: drinking hot water and teas with TCM ingredients, eating congee, wearing house slippers and starting their mornings by whacking their armpits and doing fifty jumps to get those lymph nodes moving. This cohort of newly inducted Chinese people are taking their cultural identity seriously.

Her videos have been watched millions of times, and I don’t think that she is purposely trying to hurt anyone.

But a lot of people out there are taking their new “Chinese identities” very seriously.

For example, one TikTok user started experimenting with acupuncture and cupping because it was a “worthwhile step to becoming a Chinese baddie”…

Many users have joined Zhu by posting content tagged “becoming Chinese” or “transforming into a Chinese baddie,” showcasing lifestyle changes like opting for bone broth over salads, replacing coffee with hot water, or practising tai chi and Baduanjin qigong to alleviate work-related stress.

One TikTok user remarked on experimenting with acupuncture and cupping, referring to it as “the painful but worthwhile step to becoming a Chinese baddie.”

Before you start poking yourself with needless or placing heated cups on your skin, you might want to consult an expert.

Of course there are things about traditional Chinese medicine that can be very helpful, and that is one reason why a lot of people are drawn to this new trend…

Crissa Jewel, a 30-year-old therapist based in North Carolina who hopped on the ‘becoming Chinese’ trend, says TCM-inspired practices feel like an antidote to our current demanding beauty and wellness culture. “Traditional Chinese practices are a lot more accessible than what our ways of getting healthy tend to be in our culture,” Jewel says. In Western wellness culture, fitting in regular gym sessions while being a full-time worker is the mere baseline, a standard that Jewel says feels strict to the point of being a “moral measure”. TCM has shown her ways to look after herself that are simpler to achieve: drink hot water, slap on some house slippers so your feet don’t touch the floor, add jujube to your oatmeal. “I’m like, OK, not a huge adjustment.”

That is great.

I like to wear slippers and drink herbal tea myself.

But when you start identifying as “Chinese”, you should be aware that people that are actually Chinese may be offended…

At first, Karen Lin was excited to see people embracing Chinese culture. “All of a sudden, being Chinese is cool,” said Lin, 32, who was born and raised in New York’s Chinatown.

Then things started getting weird. It felt like people were turning her culture into a costume.

“If I eat Mexican food, I’m not going to say I’m Mexican now,” she said.

Chinamaxxing has been a hot topic in Armond Dai’s group chats with Asian American friends. “Everyone was like, ‘What is happening?’” said the 28-year-old in California.

Of course many of those that are into “Chinamaxxing” have no idea what life in China is really like.

China has more surveillance cameras than the rest of the world combined, authorities burn unauthorized Bibles in front of believers, and children are completely banned from attending church.

If you want to enjoy the most basic human freedoms, China is not a place that you would ever want to live.

1.4 billion people live under a nightmarish dystopian regime with no hope that conditions will change.

So yes, it is fun to get excited about hot drinks, slippers and traditional Chinese medicine.

But let us not ever forget the tyranny that Chinese citizens must endure every single day of their lives.

Michael’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

About the Author: Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com. He has also written nine other books that are available on Amazon.com including “Chaos”, “End Times”, “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”.  When you purchase any of Michael’s books you help to support the work that he is doing.  You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter.  Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

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Michael Snyder is the publisher of The Economic Collapse Blog, The American Dream Blog and The Truth. You can follow him on Twitter right here.