If you ask a foreign visitor fresh off the plane what China’s most popular culture is, they may draw a blank. It is not an easy question to answer, for China is vast, and popular culture looks vastly different across different social circles. Yet once you stay a while, scroll through Douyin, wander shopping malls, and chat with young Chinese people, a clear trend emerges: the biggest cultural wave sweeping China today is the guofeng (Chinese style) trend — breathing new life into ancestral heritage.
An officially recognized aesthetic phenomenon A telling sign: in the 2026 New Year Address, China’s top leader specifically noted: “Public enthusiasm for cultural relics and intangible heritage keeps rising. Wukong and Nezha have won global fame, and ancient-inspired guofeng has become the top aesthetic among young people.” When something gets mentioned in the New Year Address, its significance speaks for itself.
Just how huge is this trend? Douyin data shows that the post-90s generation buys the most products from time-honored Chinese brands, while orders from Gen Z are growing the fastest. Social media views on topics related to “New Chinese Style” have exceeded 350 million. Walk down the street, and you will see just as many young women in mamianqun (horse-face skirts) as those in jeans. Open a food delivery app, and you will find milk tea named after classic legends like Boya and Xianqi, along with pastries shaped like lotus seed pods.
Young people lead the playful, creative revival The most interesting part of this guofeng boom is that it grew organically among young people, rather than being imposed on them.
At Bilibili’s New Year Gala, an innovative opera piece, Three Attacks on the White Bone Demon, went viral. On stage, you saw Peking Opera chair acrobatics, fire-spitting from Qinqiang Opera, and face-changing from Sichuan Opera, paired with naked-eye 3D and AR effects. Bullet comments filled the screen: “This is the first time I’ve truly understood opera,” and “It moved me to tears.” One overseas Chinese Gen Z creator blended Nuo dance with popping dance; the video hit over ten million views within 48 hours. Foreign viewers commented: “Is this Eastern cyberpunk?” Young Chinese netizens replied: “Our ancestors’ culture is genuinely cool.”
This playful approach matters. Traditional culture is no longer locked away in museums. It is something you can wear, sip, and share on social media. People ski in hanfu, solve puzzle games set inside museums, and describe their outfits using ancient porcelain color names such as youlihong (underglaze red) and tianqing (sky-blue) glaze. Through consumption and creativity, young people are making traditional culture their own.
Beyond guofeng: “Chinese cool” from an overseas perspective From the lens of global social media, Chinese pop culture has another vibrant side.
“China Haul” — unboxing hauls of goods bought in China — has become a go-to viral formula for overseas creators. Foreign tourists leave China with suitcases stuffed with drones, action cameras, foldable phones, goji berries, moxibustion boxes, and domestic Chinese beauty brands. On TikTok, the hashtag #BECOMINGCHINESE blew up, featuring foreigners adopting everyday Chinese habits: drinking hot water first thing in the morning, swapping into slippers indoors, and learning about postpartum confinement (yuezi). Chongqing has become a must-see destination for overseas visitors due to its cyberpunk cityscape. Even surreal, funny short-video memes from Chinese platforms get remade and imitated abroad.
What these trends share is that they are thoroughly contemporary. They are not Orientalist clichés of Peking Opera masks or Kung Fu Panda. These are things China is creating, consuming, and sharing right now: tech gadgets, futuristic city skylines, internet memes, and everyday lifestyles. They form the foundation of this modern version of Chinese pop culture.
The truth lies in the blend of tradition and modernity So what is China’s most popular culture, if we have to name it?
My observation: it exists as a creative mix. No single cultural trend dominates. A young Chinese person might scroll through guofeng transformation clips in the morning, order guochao pastries on their phone at noon, play Black Myth: Wukong in the evening, and visit museums wearing a Song-style hanfu robe on weekends. All these activities coexist naturally, without conflict.
Beneath this shift lies a change in cultural confidence. One Zhihu user put it well: young people used to post photos of limited-edition sneakers and trips overseas; now they share close-ups of museum artifacts and Song-dynasty robes. This shift did not happen because of official calls. It came from a generation finding its own aesthetic language amid globalization. When someone casually describes shades using words like chenxiang (agarwood) and xiangye (pale leaf yellow), and feels these terms capture the color better than any imported word, cultural identity is already taking root.
Advice for travelers If you want to experience what is trendy in China, my tip is this: do not only visit the Forbidden City or the Great Wall. Wander guochao shops in shopping malls, order a cup of New Chinese Style tea, watch how young locals dress on the streets, and spend some time on Douyin or Bilibili. You will find that China’s culture is not confined to scenic spots. It lives in the cracks of daily life — ancient yet present, and evolving fast.
