'Lunch of Suffering': Ordinary 'White People's Food' Goes Viral in China
Beneath a photo of melted cheese, ham and crackers neatly wrapped in plastic, a Weibo user writes that eating this for lunch is "learning how it feels to 'be dead'.
The post is part of a trend among Chinese social media users who are recreating "báirén fàn" or "white people's food" for better understand - or make fun of - Western packed lunches prepared with simple ingredients such as raw vegetables and sliced meats.
Weibo and Xiaohongshu social media platforms have been inundated with photos and reviews of cold sandwiches, raw carrots and canned tuna. Many are from Chinese international students surprised by simple lunches taken by their peers abroad.
="model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TweetBlockElement" class="dcr-173mewl"/>The trend was also pushed by a viral video of a woman in Switzerland on a train eating a bag of lettuce with ham and a packet of mustard.
In response, hundreds of commenters shared stories of low-effort lunches from their own colleagues in Europe, the United States and Australia.
“When I arrived in Australia I saw a woman who was buying… sliced raw mushrooms from the supermarket and sat down to eat them,” one wrote. "I was stunned."
TikTok user @li2dog breaks down "white people's food" into three parts. First of all, it has no spices ("zero sensation to your food") because it does not prioritize pleasure. Second, it involves as little preparation as possible: "Eat it raw, eat it whole." And third, it is consumed at work or at school. "The idea is that when you leave work, you go back to eating your normal food and you feel life returning."
Marcelo Wang explains that the fascination for these meals comes from there fact that many Chinese people are used to cooking with many different ingredients.
But for some Chinese netizens, this kind of food is the "lunch of suffering", as said by blogger Shanyoule, who bought a packet of green beans and a tomato to see what it was like to eat them raw: "It's so lawless and outrageous."
Another blogger felt that these lunches are "not for fun, but for finding guilt".
“That way I can always remember that I am here to work.
< p class="dcr-8zipgp">Another user shared a photo of his colleague's lunch box of baby carrots on top of spinach, inspiring the question, "Can he generate his own energy? without eating?"Chinese in Europe shared similar assessments, with one person in Germany saying she has a colleague whose lunch hasn't changed for 10 years old.
“It's a handful of rolled oats mixed with low-fat yogurt, with half an apple and a carrot. If such a meal is for prolonging life, what is the meaning of life?"
Beneath a photo of melted cheese, ham and crackers neatly wrapped in plastic, a Weibo user writes that eating this for lunch is "learning how it feels to 'be dead'.
The post is part of a trend among Chinese social media users who are recreating "báirén fàn" or "white people's food" for better understand - or make fun of - Western packed lunches prepared with simple ingredients such as raw vegetables and sliced meats.
Weibo and Xiaohongshu social media platforms have been inundated with photos and reviews of cold sandwiches, raw carrots and canned tuna. Many are from Chinese international students surprised by simple lunches taken by their peers abroad.
="model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TweetBlockElement" class="dcr-173mewl"/>The trend was also pushed by a viral video of a woman in Switzerland on a train eating a bag of lettuce with ham and a packet of mustard.
In response, hundreds of commenters shared stories of low-effort lunches from their own colleagues in Europe, the United States and Australia.
“When I arrived in Australia I saw a woman who was buying… sliced raw mushrooms from the supermarket and sat down to eat them,” one wrote. "I was stunned."
TikTok user @li2dog breaks down "white people's food" into three parts. First of all, it has no spices ("zero sensation to your food") because it does not prioritize pleasure. Second, it involves as little preparation as possible: "Eat it raw, eat it whole." And third, it is consumed at work or at school. "The idea is that when you leave work, you go back to eating your normal food and you feel life returning."
Marcelo Wang explains that the fascination for these meals comes from there fact that many Chinese people are used to cooking with many different ingredients.
But for some Chinese netizens, this kind of food is the "lunch of suffering", as said by blogger Shanyoule, who bought a packet of green beans and a tomato to see what it was like to eat them raw: "It's so lawless and outrageous."
Another blogger felt that these lunches are "not for fun, but for finding guilt".
“That way I can always remember that I am here to work.
< p class="dcr-8zipgp">Another user shared a photo of his colleague's lunch box of baby carrots on top of spinach, inspiring the question, "Can he generate his own energy? without eating?"Chinese in Europe shared similar assessments, with one person in Germany saying she has a colleague whose lunch hasn't changed for 10 years old.
“It's a handful of rolled oats mixed with low-fat yogurt, with half an apple and a carrot. If such a meal is for prolonging life, what is the meaning of life?"
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