Workers In China Are Growing Fruits In Their Office To Fight Stress
Many are growing bananas, pineapples, persimmons, oranges, tomatoes, lotus seed pods, and hawthorns in the office for fun and to help overcome their anxiety.
By Sukhbir Cheema — 05 Jun 2024, 03:18 PM
Office workers in China are combatting work-related stress and burnout by growing bananas and other fruits at their workplace
In China, the 996 working hour system is notorious and practised by many Chinese companies, pressuring employees to work from 9am to 9pm, six days a week.
In total, Chinese office workers reportedly work for a whopping 72 hours a week, or 12 hours a day.
Many have dubbed it "modern slavery" due to its violation of Chinese labour laws.
Growing bananas in the office is quickly gaining popularity among stressed and burnt-out young office workers in China
According to the South China Morning Post, posts related to bananas in offices are trending on Xiaohongshu, China's version of Instagram.
Posts related to this trend have been receiving up to 22,000 likes.
The bananas are bought with their stems attached while they're still green, and then placed in vases filled with water
Many find it symbolic because in Mandarin, the ripening process is called ting zhi jiao lu, which literally means "stop banana green" when translated.
For many young office workers, the phrase humorously sounds close to "stop anxiety".
The bananas are eaten once they ripen in about a week.
Some office workers even write their colleagues' names on the bananas.
Image via verychinese_jessie / InstagramMany are growing bananas, pineapples, persimmons, oranges, tomatoes, lotus seed pods, and hawthorns in the office for fun and to help overcome their anxiety
Some offices even have dedicated outdoor gardening spaces where workers can plant their favourite fruits and vegetables. Many claim that caring for these fruits and then eating them is therapeutic.
The fruits are also shared among the staff, which, according to some, has helped boost relationships in the office. They're also fun conversation starters.
Some office staff even write their colleagues' names on the skin of the fruits to reserve them.
Taobao, an e-commerce platform in China, is now home to hundreds of shops selling bananas tailored to this trend
The top-selling shop apparently sold over 20,000 banana bunches.
Many in China believe the trend is a clever marketing gimmick to help banana farmers who have been struggling with low sales.
The bananas sold in online shops are apparently more expensive than the ones sold in person.
