The stressed-out young workers in China have found a new way to relieve workplace stress: growing bananas in the office. Employees who grow the fruit describe the process of ripening it as “stop banana green,” or ting zhi jiao lu, in Mandarin, which sounds similar to “stop anxiety” in English.
The trend became popular on Xiaohongshu, China’s Instagram, where related posts received more than 22,000 likes. The anxiety-relieving bananas are usually bought when they are still green with the stems still attached, so they can be cultivated in vases of water.
After about a week of care, the bananas are ready to eat. Waiting for the bananas to ripen is seen as a fun distraction from workplace tension. “From lush green to golden yellow, every moment is filled with endless hope and surprises,” one person wrote online, adding, “Eat away the fear and let your worries disappear.”
It is also claimed that sharing bananas with colleagues can improve workplace relationships. “Desktop bananas are naturally a talking point,” said one online observer. Some people write their colleagues’ names on the peel to “reserve” it before passing it on to their colleagues.
There are hundreds of shops selling bananas on the e-commerce platform Taobao alone, with the top-selling shop recently shifting more than 20,000 bunches of the fruit. Taobao is run by the Alibaba Group, which owns the South China Morning Post. Some people suspect the trend started as a marketing gimmick by banana farmers to respond to a slump in sales. “Aren’t bananas selling well this year? I’ve seen this kind of banana advertised more than once, and it’s more expensive than buying directly,” said one person on Xiaohongshu.
Some young office workers grow not only bananas but also pineapples in vases. “My workplace is like a tropical rainforest, it feels like I have stepped into spring,” said a worker in her 30s surnamed Yang, who grows fruits on her desk and plans to add more. “Customizing workstations according to personal preferences allows young people to create a sense of belonging and security in their own small space, which helps them feel more comfortable at work,” psychologist Yu Guangrui told Shanghai-based Youth Newspaper.
As the average working week in China exceeds 49 hours, young workers often look for ways to relieve stress. Last month, the “20-minute park effect” trend on Xiaohongshu also went viral, as office workers discovered that even a short visit to a city park can boost their well-being and happiness. In the last year, young Chinese have discovered tree planting as a stress reliever.
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