White People Food (白人饭)
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About
White People Food (Mandarin 白人饭, pronounced "báirén fàn," which translates to "white people food") or Lunch of Suffering refers to a general trend from the spring of 2023 in which Chinese social media users mock bare and mildly flavored lunches stereotypically associated with white people, such as crackers and deli meat or vegetables and sandwiches without dressing. Commentaries from Chinese social media users on sites such as Weibo and Xiaohongshu amused many Western social media users as it spread online in June 2023 who typically tended to take the mockery of their food in good humor.
Origin
On May 5th, 2023, a Xiaohongshu user living in Denmark named "埃丽斯啦啦啦" posted a picture of their white colleague's lunch, which was a Tupperware container filled with some baby carrots and spinach. They joked, "Can they generate their own energy without eating?"[1]
Spread
On May 23rd, 2023, a Chinese Xiaohongshu user in Switzerland posted a video of a white woman on a train constructing a lunch that included a head of lettuce.[2] The video appears to have been the catalyst for some Western publications taking note of the mockery supposed "white people food" was facing on Chinese social media. On June 2nd and June 6th, 2023, Chinese-Western publications Radii[3] and The China Project[4] covered the developing trend.
On June 7th, SCMP[5] covered the trend, highlighting the phrase "Lunch of Suffering" from a commenter. Some Chinese social media users expressed that they enjoyed the low-effort preparation of so-called "white people food," and expressed it was a good way to maintain energy in the middle of a workday as opposed to carb-heavy Chinese food.[4]
On June 13th, 2023, Twitter user @TheCartelDel[6] posted screenshots of a NextShark[7] article about the trend, gaining over 25,000 retweets and 169,000 likes in a week (shown below).
The tweet caught the attention of more Western publications, and websites including The Guardian[8] and BuzzFeed[9] posted about the trend over the following week.
The developing trend was also noticed by some TikTok users. For example, on June 7th, TikToker girlwithadoge posted a summary of the trend up to that point, gaining over 124,000 likes in two weeks (shown below, left). On June 5th, TikToker @Marcelowang0547 posted a similar video, gaining over 18,000 likes in the same time frame (shown below, right).
Search Interest
External References
[1] Xiaohongshu – The White Man's Lunch Evolves Lost Appetite
[2] Xiaohongshu – Today I have seen the white ceiling…
[3] Radii – Why is ‘White People Food’ Trending in China?
[4] The China Project – ‘White people’s food’ evokes laughter, mockery -- and praise -- on the Chinese internet
[5] SCMP – ‘The lunch of suffering’ Chinese bloggers appalled by what they call ‘white people food’ such as salads, cheese and crackers
[6] Twitter – @TheCartelDel
[7] NextShark – ‘White people food’ trends on Chinese social media
[8] The Guardian – ‘Lunch of suffering’ plain ‘white people food’ goes viral in China
[9] Buzzfeed – 'Lunch Of Suffering' China's Latest Social Media Trend Is "White People's Food," And There's A Surprising Amount To Unpack Here
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