My German roommate now drinks warm water and owns three sets of hanfu. China changed him.
When Lukas moved into my spare room in Shanghai last year, he was a very standard German. Black coffee, cold beer, bread for every meal, and a deeply held belief that water should be refrigerated.Twelve months later, I caught him pouring hot water into a thermos at 11 PM.
"It's better for your stomach," he said, very seriously, in his slightly accented Chinese. "My TCM doctor told me."
I don't know who this person is anymore.
The food transformation:
Lukas didn't come to China for the culture. He came for a mechanical engineering job. But the food got him.
Phase 1 (months 1-3): Fear. He stared at a hotpot menu for 20 minutes, pointed at random items, and accidentally ordered duck blood. He didn't speak to me for two hours afterward.
Phase 2 (months 4-6): Obsession. He discovered Sichuan hotpot. The real ones where the broth is 90% chili oil and servers don't ask about spice tolerance. He started carrying breath mints and antacids. He stopped carrying the mints.
Phase 3 (months 7-9): Integration. He learned basic menu characters: 肉 (meat), 辣 (spicy), 不 (no). He figured out how to order "less spicy" (微辣) and immediately ignored it because he wants it painful.
Phase 4 (months 10-12): Evangelism. He now takes new arrivals to hotpot and explains the dipping sauce station like a seminar. "Sesame paste base, add garlic, cilantro, a little oyster sauce, then the secret: vinegar and a touch of sugar." He's wrong about the sugar, but I don't have the heart to tell him.
The hanfu thing:
This is where it gets weird. Lukas was dragged to a Hanfu festival in Hangzhou by a colleague. He went ironically. He came back with three outfits.
"It's comfortable," he said, wearing a Ming dynasty-style robe while eating instant noodles. "The sleeves are big. I can hide snacks."
He's not entirely wrong. The pockets are surprisingly practical.
The warm water doctrine:
Lukas now believes cold water is "bad for the organs." He carries a thermos. He asks restaurants for 热水. He explained this to his mother in Germany via video call and she cried.
"First I noticed everyone drank warm water. Then I tried it. Then I couldn't go back. Cold water feels... aggressive now."
Other "China habits" I've watched foreigners adopt:
[*] Using phone payment for everything, then feeling confused abroad
[*] Assuming food delivery arrives in 30 minutes or less
[*] Expecting same-day packages
[*] Bowing slightly when handing things to people
[*] Unconsciously saying 嗯 instead of "uh-huh"
[*] Drinking yogurt after spicy food "to protect the stomach"
The reverse culture shock:
Lukas visited Berlin last month. He stood in a restaurant for 10 minutes waiting for a QR code. "Why don't they have Dianping?" He tried to pay with his phone and the waiter looked at him like he was insane. He came back to Shanghai relieved.
"I think I'm broken for the West now," he said, drinking warm water from his thermos.
I think he's probably right.
Sources: Global Times (Feb 2026), People's Daily social coverage
Anyone else watched a friend go through the "China transformation"? What's the weirdest habit they picked up?
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