British Chinese Food TikToks

Submission 5,964

Part of a series on British People / Bri'ish. [View Related Entries]

About

British Chinese Food TikToks refers to a trend in late April and early May 2023 when TikTok users reported that their "For You" page was unnaturally inundated with British people talking about what they'd ordered from Chinese takeout restaurants. These TikToks also resulted in discussions due to the differences between British and American Chinese food staples, as many Americans were confused about British people ordering fries (or "chips") from Chinese restaurants.

Origin

In late April 2023, TikTok users began noticing that their "For You" pages were becoming inundated with British people going through their Chinese takeout orders.

While videos of British people talking about their Chinese takeout had been appearing on the app for months prior, it appears the virality of the trend started on April 23rd, 2023, with a video by user @charleyannec.^[1] In her video, which gained over 4 million views in 10 days, she takes out several items that are not popular in American Chinese food, including curry sauce, "chicken balls," "salt and pepper chicken" and "salt and pepper chips." She also says she got "a Chinese," which is British slang for ordering Chinese food (shown below).

Spread

Over the following few days, several other British people discussing their Chinese takeout orders went viral on the app. On April 24th, 2023, TikToker nicolerosadavis^[2] posted a similar video, gaining over 1 million views in 10 days (shown below, left). That same day, user @corysworldd^[3] then posted a video of his order, gaining over 970,000 views in the same time frame (shown below, right).

The videos attracted light criticism from some Americans, who were perturbed at the differences between American Chinese food and British Chinese food, as well as the fact that the British called it "getting a Chinese." On April 28th, TikToker @xo_pennypink posted her criticism and confusion over British Chinese food, gaining over 1 million views in five days (shown below, left). On May 1st, TikToker @soogia1 voiced her confusion about both the influx of British Chinese takeout videos and their Chinese food preferences, gaining over 2 million views in two days (shown below, right).