You are stronger than you think. Stronger than the craving. Stronger than the habit. Stronger than the lie addiction tells you every single day.
That lie is a quiet one. It doesn’t announce itself. It whispers that you need it to relax, that you can’t get through the day without it, that quitting is something other people can do — just not you. It clouds your judgment and convinces you that giving in is easier than pushing back.
But here’s the truth: strength was never about lifting the heaviest weight or running the fastest mile. Sometimes strength is simpler — and harder — than that. Strength is refusal.
Refusal to give in to addiction. Every time you say no to a cigarette, you’re not weak for craving it — you’re strong for resisting it. That moment of refusal, repeated daily, is what breaks the cycle addiction depends on.
Refusal to hurt your health. Your lungs, your heart, your body — they are worth protecting. Tobacco doesn’t ask permission before it damages you. But you can decide, every day, that your health matters more than the habit.
Refusal to let tobacco take control. Addiction thrives on control — convincing you it’s calling the shots. But the moment you push back, you take that control back. One decision at a time, you decide who’s really in charge.
Do not let the addiction cloud your strong will. Push tobacco away. Not because it’s easy, but because you are capable of it — more capable than the lie wants you to believe.
You don’t have to do this alone.
If you’re struggling and need someone to talk to, support is available:
📞 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-800-784-8669) — the National Quitline 🌐 smokefree.gov
By Joel Wong, Board Member of AAUC, Co-Chair of the Asian American Stories Video Contest & Chair of the Judges Committee, Silicon Valley Community Media (SVCM)
The U.S.-China rivalry is a profound structural collision between two distinct operational architectures and strategic playbooks.
The Operating Systems: Spark vs. Circuit
U.S. — Internal Combustion Engine: Driven by high-risk venture capital and creative disruption, the American model acts as an ignition chamber for radical technological breakthroughs. However, it is highly volatile, prone to asset bubbles, and fractured by political polarization, leaving Washington struggling to scale and manufacture its innovations domestically.
China — Integrated Smart Grid: Beijing synchronizes state-owned enterprises, private tech giants, and macroeconomic blueprints into a unified conductor. It dynamically reroutes resources during external shocks to achieve unparalleled industrial scaling, but it risks centralized fragility and favors incremental optimization over revolutionary discovery.
The Playbooks: Checkers vs. Go
U.S. — Checkers: Focuses on direct confrontation, rapid tactical captures, and reactive crisis management via targeted sanctions, military deployments, and mini-lateral alliances. It excels at fast responses but lacks long-term structural continuity.
China’s — Go (Weiqi): Prioritizes patient spatial encirclement, cumulative advantage, and building enduring global infrastructure networks. While highly resilient over decades, this bureaucratic strategy is vulnerable to sudden, non-linear black swan events.
The Hybridization Race: The contest is fundamentally an operational duel moving toward hybridization. The U.S. is deploying aggressive industrial policies to build its own grid, while China pours state capital into foundational tech to ignite its own spark. The ultimate victor will be the superpower that successfully executes both strategies: fusing high-velocity disruption with systemic, long-term endurance.
Published: 2:00pm, 7 Feb 2026 Updated: 1:37pm, 24 Feb 2026
If you’re enjoying a cup of apple herbal tea, starting your day with tai chi, and winding down with a soothing foot bath, you may be part of an intriguing trend known as “Becoming Chinese.”
Since January, a TikTok influencer has unintentionally ignited a global movement centred on adopting Chinese lifestyle habits, with videos showcasing these practices attracting over 20 million views.
In one engaging clip, Sherry Zhu Xirui, 23, humorously proclaims to her audience: “If you love hotpot, dim sum, Sichuan cuisine, and Biangbiang noodles, then you are Chinese. Your body is simply yearning for that wonton.”
TikTok influencer Sherry Zhu, above, unintentionally sparked a global movement focused on embracing Chinese lifestyle habits, with her videos showcasing these practices garnering over 20 million views. Photo: Instagram
Zhu, whose father is from Pinghu in Zhejiang province, eastern China, and mother hails from Guizhou, southwest China, was raised in New Jersey after her father came to the US for studies.
In an interview with the SCMP, Zhu shared that her Chinese-American upbringing included traditional wellness habits, such as drinking hot water for digestion and wearing slippers indoors to protect from han qi, the body’s cold energy.
Many users have joined Zhu by posting content tagged “becoming Chinese” or “transforming into a Chinese baddie,” showcasing lifestyle changes like opting for bone broth over salads, replacing coffee with hot water, or practising tai chi and Baduanjin qigong to alleviate work-related stress.
Zhu, second from left, whose father is from Zhejiang province and mother from Guizhou, was raised in New Jersey after her father moved to the US for his studies. Photo: Instagram
One TikTok user remarked on experimenting with acupuncture and cupping, referring to it as “the painful but worthwhile step to becoming a Chinese baddie.”
As Western audiences increasingly embrace Chinese lifestyles, they are also reevaluating their own cultural identities through this journey.
A year earlier, with the threat of a TikTok ban in the US, many users transitioned to the Chinese platform RedNote, dubbed “TikTok refugees,” leading to a significant cross-cultural exchange that saw RedNote rise swiftly in popularity.
This migration prompted the rapid introduction of AI translation features, facilitating connections across cultural lines.
Sun Fei, a social work professor at Michigan State University, observed that the “becoming Chinese” phenomenon underscores a disillusionment among some non-Chinese individuals with their own societal norms.
Experts said as Western audiences increasingly adopt Chinese lifestyles, they are also reassessing their own cultural identities amid this transformative experience. Photo: Shutterstock
He explained to the SCMP: “Western users realised that China’s technology, urban lifestyle, and culture differ from their expectations. Engaging with Chinese culture allowed many to dismantle prejudices and feel empowered to redefine their perceptions of social reality and justice.”
However, the trend is not without its critics.
Zhu remarked that some negative responses have come from fellow Chinese-Americans, who may feel conflicted seeing their culture commodified.
“They’ve faced bullying and now grapple with the confusion of witnessing Chinese culture presented as trendy,” she noted.
In the wake of the Covid pandemic, animosity towards overseas Chinese communities surged, adding complexity to the conversation.
Reflecting on her childhood experiences, Zhu recalled being teased for bringing noodles to school; nevertheless, she refused to let negativity cloud her spirit, proudly embracing her cultural heritage. Photo: Instagram
Recalling her childhood struggles, Zhu mentioned being teased for bringing noodles to school, with remarks like her food resembling worms. Others would condescendingly acknowledge her proficiency in English.
Despite these challenges, Zhu did not allow negativity to deter her; she embraced her cultural roots with pride.
“I’ve understood from a young age the warmth and benefits that Chinese culture offers. The support of my family and friends has been unwavering. Those who deride a culture they don’t comprehend are the truly pitiful ones,” Zhu expressed.
Why ‘becoming Chinese’ has gone viral among Americans despite US-China tensions
She is encouraged by the increasing number of individuals eager to learn about Chinese culture.
Meanwhile, Chinese mainstream media sees the trend as an opportunity to enhance the country’s soft power.
Sociologists emphasise that any nation aiming to reshape its international image must cultivate cultural confidence while addressing domestic issues of fairness and harmony, steering clear of excessive focus on external validation.
Professor Sun remarked: “Those embracing ‘becoming Chinese’ might overlook some of the internal challenges within Chinese society, yet these are the realities recognised and experienced by the Chinese public.”
Following the looming threat of a TikTok ban in the US last year, many Western users flocked to the Chinese platform RedNote, fostering significant cross-cultural exchanges and propelling its rapid rise in popularity. Photo: shobserver.com
He advocates for social media platforms, global content creators, and social organisations to present a wider spectrum of cultural narratives.
While the “Becoming Chinese” trend may not endure indefinitely, the phenomenon of cultural imitation facilitated by digital mediums is anticipated to resurge.
“In the future, we may witness cycles of trends such as embracing Japanese lifestyles, adopting Nordic minimalism, or relocating to Thailand. Today’s global youth are eager to explore their identities and foster cross-cultural connections,” Sun said.
He posed a challenge to content creators: “You have established cultural trends, but can you evolve into true leaders, advocates, and influencers who inspire meaningful societal change?”
Zoey Zhang is a multimedia reporter who covers ranges of topics including China culture, education, social trends, and Asian human interest stories. She previously interned with the Post on the video desk over the winter of 2022-2023. She holds a master’s degree in Journalism from the University of Hong Kong.
I want to share my cooking and diet journey with whoever sees this story.
I come from North China. My family and I eat typical Chinese food: Chinese bread (Mantou), rice, Chinese noodles, stir-fried mixed meat and vegetables, stir-fried mixed egg and vegetables, fried meat, fried vegetables, fried eggs, dumplings, and steamed bao. I still remember when I started cooking with my mom, I was in the first grade of elementary school. I have to stand on a stool to reach the kitchen counter and make the dough flat for my mom to use to make dumplings.
In 2001, my family moved to Sweden. The first Western food I learned about from my daughter, who ate in school, was bread with butter. I spread a one-centimeter-thick layer of butter on the bread. After I have eaten this bread for half a year, I have been fatter, my skin has been smoother and shinier. When I went back to China, all my friends thought I was pregnant. After I started working in a nursing home in Sweden, I finally saw how Swedes eat bread with butter! While I was working in a nursing home in Sweden, I saw the patient eating typical Western food: bread, coffee, cookies, cake, the entrée, usually with meat and vegetables, and always with potatoes or mashed potatoes, pasta, or spaghetti. Staff are allowed to eat patients’ food for pay. I really enjoyed all the Swedish food. I also tried baking and cooking Swedish food at home. Although I didn’t cook Swedish food well, actually, I did it very badly, my family and I liked what I cooked. Compared to Swedish food and Chinese food, Swedish food contains more dairy, and Chinese food contains more vegetables.
In 2005, my family moved to Boston, America. My family eats mixed Western food and Chinese food. Although my family eats mainly Chinese food, spaghetti, and pasta are always our favorite foods. We usually eat spaghetti and pasta with Chinese stir-fried meat and vegetables. I sometimes spread butter and cheese on Chinese bread (Mantou) to eat, which is very delicious. We love pizza, hamburgers, sandwiches, cake, and cookies. When we go to a buffet, I see a lot of Chinese, Asian (like sushi and stir-fried vegetables), and Western food, all of which is so great and enjoyable.
In the field experience course, I translated many fliers into Chinese promoting fruit and vegetables. CDC recommends eating colorful fruit and vegetables throughout the day: at least 3 servings of vegetables and 2 servings of fruit. For the Chinese, it is not difficult to achieve. But Chinese people should increase their dairy and protein intake, according to CDC recommendations (n.d.).
I want to tell people who, like me, come from China: please try Western food. You will find plenty of Western food that you will love, and you will be creative in making your dining table both attractive and healthy.
Reference
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (n.d.). Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
It’s not hard to notice, especially in the Twin Cities area, of all the different languages we hear, at work, at school, out shopping, on public transits. Even in some rural areas, that has also become more common.
With the different languages, it is also not hard to imagine the different clothing, different cultures, different cuisines, etc., that come along with the people that speak the languages.
MPR files a report on how a family navigates in a bicultural world…
A ten-part series of articles on the health and wellbeing of the Asian American community in Minnesota.
APA ComMNet project participants gather data from the community.
Based on the data collected from a two-year study conducted by Asian Media Access (AMA) and Asian Pacific American Community Network (APA ComMNet), the Bicultural Healthy Living Blog is publishing a series of articles examining the health of the eight largest Asian American communities in Minnesota – the Hmong, Asian Indian, Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Filipino, Laotian and Cambodian American communities. Each article will focus on one Asian ethnic community to understand the environmental, behavioral and social factors affecting the overall health and wellbeing of its members
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The series of articles will be published as scheduled:
Kaonou and Asia Hang at the Celebrations of Change Event
Growing up as a teen in a small town in Wisconsin, Kaonou Hang was taught that it was inappropriate for a proper Hmong girl to talk about sexual health issues – whether it was about boyfriends and sex, her monthly periods or simply using words for the female anatomy. This just wasn’t done in her culture and therefore relied on her friends’ knowledge to understand the changes that were occurring in her body as she grew into adulthood.
After graduating with a degree in biology with a special interest in maternal and child health, Kaonou decided that her 9-year old daughter’s experience of puberty was going to be very different. She attended, along with other Hmong mothers, a workshop run by the Annex Teen Clinic, a Minneapolis-based health clinic for young people. The workshop, entitled “Celebration of Change”, created space for mothers and daughters to talk about sexual health issues with a focus on the young girls’ expectations of going through puberty. The program is a part of the Eliminating Health Disparities Initiative of the Minnesota Department of Health’s Office of Minority and Multicultural Health.
Kaonou Hang, an independent oriental medicine specialist, wrote:
As a mother of a pre-teen girl, I wanted make sure my daughter’s experience of puberty was going to be a positive one. I also knew this was something the whole Hmong American community needed, not just me. After speaking to several community organizations, I came across the Annex Teen Clinic in North Minneapolis who had put together a sexual health curriculum called “Celebrations of Change” for African-American mothers and daughters. This was what I had been searching for. My daughter and I, along with two other pairs of Hmong mothers and daughters were the first Asian American group to use the curriculum that was adapted for Asian Americans. I have to admit, even with my science and medical background, going into the Celebration of Change event was a little scary. I thought it was going to be filled with some serious heavy material. Instead, it was the complete opposite. It was fun, the dialogue was eye opening, and the time passed by way too quickly. The event truly felt like a celebration of becoming a woman. Even though we were unable to cover every topic on puberty, this day allowed our daughters to know that they could come talk to us, their moms about this and any other topic. The girls, the mothers and the instructors all thought the event was a success and the program will be rolled out to the local community in the near future.
Celebration of Change Event was held on Saturday, March 2, 2013 at the Annex REACH Community Office Teen Clinic in Minneapolis – A Photo of the Mothers and Daughters who attended the event.
To learn more about the Celebration of Change event and Annex Teen Clinic, we asked health educator Song Thao, the facilitator who conducted the workshop, a few questions.
Song Thao, Health Educator at Annex Teen Clinic
What is the Annex Teen Clinic?
The Annex Teen Clinic is a sexual health clinic made for young people. We serve anyone up to the age of 26 years old. We serve all communities in our area.
What do you do at Annex Teen Clinic?
As a health educator, a big part of my job is doing a federal grant-funded program called the Teen Outreach Program (TOP) in the schools that focus on healthy youth development. It is a teen pregnancy prevention program designed to help young people make better decisions and to grow into an overall healthy teen.
What is the Celebration of Change Workshop?
The Celebration of Change workshop is an event that started a couple years ago. It is a flexible workshop that can be implemented over a few weeks, a weekend, or a full day retreat that explores healthy mother/daughter communication and healthy development during the stage of puberty. It is a program intended to help bridge the communication lines between mothers and daughters and to celebrate the time when young daughters are about to go through puberty. The purpose is to get mothers & daughters comfortable with talking about the changes that will take place in their bodies and to celebrate this time of change.
How did the curriculum for Celebration of Change come about?
The curriculum for the Celebration of Change was developed in 1996 in an attempt to strengthen family communication around sexual health and development. It was created by a series of community members from different organizations who felt strongly about this topic.
How did you and others tailor the curriculum for the Celebration of Change Workshop to fit the Hmong community?
We kept a lot of the same information but took some information or activities out that we felt weren’t relevant to the Hmong community and we added some information that we felt the Hmong community could relate to. I met with a few community members to gain their inputs and to figure out what would work best and get the message across the easiest.
Nou Yang and her daughter Brooke at the Celebrations of Change Workshop
What did you find that you had to do differently with the curriculum so it would be more culturally appropriate for Hmong girls and their moms?
I felt that because talking about body parts and development was always a taboo that by just being comfortable talking about it. I also had to explain some words in Hmong or use some kind of Hmong reference/example to get them to fully understand some of the terms we were referring to.
Why do you think its important for Hmong girls and their moms to go through this workshop?
I think it’s extremely important for mothers and daughters of any cultural group to go through this workshop but especially important for the Hmong community to go through it because it’s definitely something different. It opens up the door for communication and gives mothers and daughters a chance to connect in a different way and really deepen their relationship.
Sujin Vue and her daughter Suyi
What did you find most surprising about having Hmong girls and moms go through the workshop compared to girls and moms who are not Hmong?
Because this was a pilot program to see how well the Hmong community would perceive the program, I have not actually been able to compare it to other workshops. But we do have other culturally specific celebration of change workshops that have been done in the past with the American (White) culture and the African American culture.
What have you found that helps working with Southeast Asian girls and moms to have them talk about these subjects?
I think having them split into the mother, daughter groups really helps because then they feel more free to talk or ask questions as they wish until they feel a little more comfortable. I also think that incorporating different types of activities that still teach about sexuality really helps eases them as well as using activities that both mother and daughter can do together really helps.
Why do you think it’s difficult for Southeast Asian cultures to talk about subjects like periods, sexuality, bodies etc?
I think it’s difficult for Southeast Asians to talk about sexuality because it is a taboo in our culture. Also because we don’t have all the terms and words that the Western culture has. And because it’s a generational thing. Our parents’ parents have never talked to them because their parents haven’t talked to them and so on and that’s why our parents now don’t know how to talk to us about it. But that’s part of the reason for this workshop; it is to break the cycle so that we can freely talk about sexuality and not make it seem like it’s a bad or dirty thing to do but an educational tool.
Bicultural Healthy Living is the ability of immigrants and refugees to bridge two cultures, the American mainstream culture and their culture of origin, into one that allows them to live healthfully and happily. By leading a bicultural healthy lifestyle, we hope that Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities can find a path that allow both their Asian/Pacific islander and American culture to co-exist with the ability to use one or both cultural protective factors when needed. This blog will explore the various ways and strategies to improve the health of AAPIs and the community as a whole by living a bicultural healthy lifestyle.
Before McDonalds or KFC dotted the landscape of Singapore, a small island nation in Southeast Asia, its residents enjoyed a staple of rice, meat and vegetables cooked in their Chinese, Indian and Malay traditions [i]. These days however, Singaporeans enjoy a westernized way of life that includes eating at fast food restaurants two or three times a week[ii].
Another McDonalds in China. Photo Credit: Asian Correspondent.
Researchers at the University of Minnesota’s School of Public Health decided to find out the health cost associated with this change in diet and collaborated with public health experts at National University of Singapore. Over 60,000 Chinese Singaporeans were interviewed about their health and eating habits [ii]. What they found was not only surprising to many in the public health community but a real cause of concern for modernized Asian countries.
Type 2 Diabetes and Cardiac Deaths for Fast Food Lovers
Study participants who ate more than two times a week at fast food joints like Burger King or Quiznos were more likely to die of heart disease and develop Type-2 diabetes. These results were evident after researchers controlled for other factors such as gender, educational level and weight. Interestingly, Chinese Singaporeans who ate traditional Singaporean meals, like stir-fried vegetables or steamed dumplings, were not at risk for acquiring these diseases.
Popular Asian Dishes. Unknown source.
The results of this study along with other similar research findings convinced public health, medical and nutrition experts that good health is connected to maintaining cultural traditions, especially rituals that involve cooking food in simple unprocessed ways.
The Asian Diet Pyramid
Emphasizing traditional food staples such as rice, noodles, legumes, vegetables and fruits, along with some red meat, fish and poultry, the Asian Diet Pyramid was developed by Oldways Preservation Trust to encourage healthy eating in the Asian American community. Oldways organization is guided by a simple premise that good health can be found through heritage [iii].
Oldways Heritage Pyramid developed by Oldways Preservation Trust,conjunction with the Cornell-China-Oxford Project on Nutrition, Health and Environment, and the Harvard School of Public Health.
A new generation of Asian Americans has heeded the call for returning to a more traditional diet used by their grandparents. Young Asian Americans activists like Aileen Suzara, a Filipino American educator, environmental justice advocate and a natural chef, uses traditional Filipino food and recipes to understand and connect to her Filipino American culture and community (learn more about her here).
As more Asian countries modernize and look towards the U.S. as an example of western living, it has become evident that America’s obesity epidemic will also be exported along with the super-sized burgers, shakes and fries. Asian Americans in the U.S. can look beyond this pattern of ordering food-to-go or eating meals outside the home and look within their own culture to find meaningful ways of achieving optimal health and wellbeing.
[i] Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, www.eatright.org.
[ii] Western-Style Fast Food Intake and Cardio-Metabolic Risk in an Eastern Country. Andrew O. Odegaard, Woon Puay Koh, Jian-Min Yuan, Myron D. Gross, and Mark A. Pereira. http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/early/2012/05/31/CIRCULATIONAHA.111.084004.full.pdf
AMA Staff at the 2012 Hmong New Year in Minneapolis, MN
In response to the increasing disparity in health outcomes within the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community in Minnesota, especially among the newly arrived Asian immigrants and refugees, the bicultural healthy living concept was conceived. This concept emerged from work initiated by the Asian Pacific American Community Network (APA ComMNet), a collaborative group led by Asian Media Access (AMA). In 2010, AMA and APA ComMNet received a prestigious grant from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to participate in the REACH CORE program (Racial and EthnicApproaches to Community Health, Communities Organized to Respond and Evaluate) that seeks to eliminate racial and ethnic health disparities in the U.S.
As a member of the National REACH Coalition, AMA and APA ComMNet conducted outreach and engagement with Minnesota’s eight largest AAPI communities and collected qualitative and quantitative data to understand the systematic, environmental, cultural and social factors influencing the health of AAPIs in the state. Guided by the MAPP process (Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnership), AMA and APA ComMNet found that by moving beyond the aggregated data used for AAPI communities, various cultural, historical, institutional and societal factors emerged deeply impacting the overall health of AAPIs in the state.
Along with its partners, AMA and APA ComMNet have devised a strategy that will allow the Asian/Pacific Islander culture as well as the American culture of AAPIs to co-exist with the ability to use one or both cultural protective factors when needed. The bicultural healthy lifestyle promotes a balanced approach to living a healthy and full life.
