Stare into this screen for five seconds. Focus on the hypnosis circles. Drink some hot water. Great! — you’re officially more Chinese now. The “becoming more Chinese” trend, which took off on TikTok in 2025, involves performing certain actions, such as walking with hands behind one’s back or gifting expensive fruits, that are said to align with Chinese culture. Is Chinamaxxing a meme or a movement? Who knows? (Even as an ABC, I’m undecided.) Either way, here are three Chinese cultural exports that might make you not just want to hop on the bandwagon, but commit to a deeper dive.

Ji Bei Chuan（季北川）

Chinese cuisine has always been one of the most accessible entry points into Chinese culture. After all, it’s simple to 1. find a Chinese restaurant, 2. step inside, 3. (optional) snap a pic for the socials, and 4. dig in. But few China-based restaurant chains have expanded as swiftly as Ji Bei Chuan, the mixian rice noodle specialist that boasts dozens of stores in the United States alone.

What sets Ji Bei Chuan apart is its focus on Yunnan province’s mixian rice noodles. Want to be seen as a true connoisseur? Tell your companions about how Ji Bei Chuan’s silky mixian are distinct from Cantonese hefen rice noodles or Lanzhou lamian wheat noodles. As you cup your hands around a bowl too large to fully cradle, hot steam rises in fragrant layers. The mixian, crowned with fish maw, beckons. So, if you’re craving that Yunnan flavor, Ji Bei Chuan is the place to go — but if you just want “Chinese noodles,” you’re welcome, too.

Blue-and-White Porcelain（青花瓷）

International consumers don’t need another slow C-Pop love ballad — or do they? Yes, they do. We all need “Blue-and-White Porcelain,” the 2007 masterpiece by singer-songwriter Jay Chou and lyricist Vincent Fang. Listen once, and this song takes you on a four-minute journey through… a sea of unfathomable lyrics. Listen twice, perhaps with a translation open, and those four minutes span centuries, from the Yuan dynasty to today. Sink into the melody, and you’ll hear the weeping of an erhu underneath rolling pop rhythms. Immerse yourself in the lyrics, and you become an ancient scholar, composing verses for a woman as beautiful as porcelain.

This song has aged like fine wine; as a defining work of zhongguofeng (Chinese-style music), it draws on the classics, maturing into a classic in its own right. Jay Chou is not just plucking the guzheng’s strings, but also your heartstrings, stirring a longing for that mist-soft rain, those ink-wash paintings, the glazed-blue porcelain — and, of course, your lost lover, as well.

Ne Zha 2 (哪吒之魔童闹海）

Listened to “Blue-and-White Porcelain”? Scrolled past another Chinamaxxing reel? Well, now it’s time for a bit more time commitment — let’s revisit Ne Zha 2, the 2025 animated blockbuster that rewrote expectations for Chinese cinema. You might be surprised at its popularity when you notice the lack of familiar export formulas: there’s no kung fu (though there are martial arts and magic) or romantic subplot (except Ne Zha’s parents). Little Ne Zha, with dark eyebags and a fiery attitude, smashes through immortal palaces and across the four seas, accompanied by his friend, cool-headed dragon prince Ao Bing.

By watching Ne Zha 2, you’re not “becoming Chinese,” but infiltrating a brand-new universe — namely, the one based on the 16th-century Fengshen Yanyi (The Investiture of the Gods) — of gods, demons, and celestial combat, a universe that is foreign to you, but a household name for millions overseas. On screen, Ne Zha rebels against fate. Off screen, the film itself defies stereotypes, proving that a culturally authentic Chinese work can resonate far beyond its origins, with me, and probably also with you.