BEIJING — The plain ham sandwiches, no-frills salads and other American-style takeout lunches that fill office fridges don’t exactly scream “Instagram.” But they are a social media sensation in China, where they have their own hashtag: #WhitePeopleFood.
The trend appears to have started in May, when a Chinese social media user posted a video which quickly went viral of a fellow trainee in Switzerland pulling lettuce leaves out of a bag and layering them with ham and mustard.
“Is there more ‘white people food’ than this?” the caption said.
The term makes fun of the casual, on-the-go way people eat in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere in the West. Compared to the hot, flavorful, and elaborately prepared food people in China are used to, meals prepared with a handful of cold, unseasoned ingredients can seem underwhelming or simply inedible.
Discussions of “white food” on Chinese social media are full of witty and withering descriptions: “Food of suffering.” “A meal to maintain vital signs.” “How death must feel.”
But as a kitchen it has its advantages, as stressed-out young workers in cities across China are discovering.
“I had been eating sandwiches for lunch for more than half a year,” said Gao Duan, a 30-year-old playwright from the northern port city of Tianjin. “It doesn’t have a strong smell and it’s convenient to eat in the office.”
Eventually, Gao had enough of the daily sandwiches, which he said he ate “just to get through the afternoon.”
“There is no point in eating well in the workplace, because the food has to be divine and properly enjoyed,” he said.
On Xiaohongshu, the Chinese equivalent of Instagram, users are rushing to post their own versions of “white people’s food,” a topic with more than 13 million views reminiscent of the “sad desk lunch” meme from the 2010s. .
One user told her followers that she was enjoying her bagel sandwich stuffed with ham, cheese, and arugula leaves. Another displayed a boxed lunch with cucumber and tomato, as well as ready-to-use boiled eggs and potatoes, captioned “no heat, no cut, no seasoning, done in two minutes.”
Although “white people’s food” is far from a novelty in China, which has had Western fast food chains since the 1980s, the social media trend is driven by changes in the way people live. , as well as the striking hashtag.
“The name seems a bit politically incorrect,” said Cao Yu, who studies food culture at Jinan University in the southern metropolis of Guangzhou. “But it’s not meant to be offensive.”
“People just think it doesn’t look very tasty,” Cao added.
A typical Chinese lunch includes staples like rice or noodles and some hot dishes made with multiple ingredients, spices, and cooking techniques, from frying to stewing to braising. From start to finish, the preparation can easily take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour.
That was easier when most workers, many of whom worked for state-owned companies with their own canteens, could rely on long lunch breaks to get enough to abundant food and a siesta in the early afternoon.
But China’s modern “996” work culture (working 9 am to 9 pm, six days a week) leaves little time to prepare or eat a complicated meal.
“Young people want to save more time for themselves,” Cao said. “When you realize you can eat a raw carrot, it opens a door to a whole new world.”
Simplicity isn’t the only reason “white people’s food” has become more appealing.
Li Qiaoying, a 26-year-old marketing consultant based in Shenzhen who enjoys yoga, Pilates and cardio dancing, said it aligns with her idea of a healthy diet and helps her stay fit.
“It’s lighter, unlike Chinese fried or stewed dishes,” he said. “Food that is too oily or strong is a burden on the body.”
It is also considered cheaper by urban workers facing high costs of living and record youth unemployment. Making a Western-style boxed lunch costs less than 20 yuan ($2.80), Li said, compared with 30 yuan ($4.20) for take-out and 100 yuan ($13.80) to eat at a restaurant. . In a country where the average worker earns less than 9,000 yuan ($1,240) a month, the difference adds up quickly.
Other young professionals, considering the effort it would take to make a proper Chinese meal, are so exhausted they just can’t be bothered, a reflection of a growing movement to minimize work, social activities and other endeavors that is known in China as ” lying down.”
“Food is an important part of Chinese culture,” said Miao Jia, an assistant professor of sociology at NYU Shanghai. “But many youngsters will sacrifice taste as they only eat to survive.”
“White food” still has many detractors in a country with a long and rich culinary tradition.
“It is absurd for an adult to eat this as daily nutrition,” said Xianglan Huo, a university student from the southern city of Kunming. “The serving isn’t even enough for my cat.”
“It’s too cruel to the body,” Huo said. “I prefer rich cuisines.”
But it also has its defenders, even when it comes to taste.
Alice Dong, a 34-year-old office worker in Beijing, said she loves her salad lunches because they resemble some of the cold dishes she ate growing up in northeast China.
“My mom used to mix grated radish, cucumber, and potato with salt, vinegar, and hot sauce,” she said. “For me, the western salad is just a change of some ingredients and sauce.”
