China‑Vietnam social media food craze

In late July 2026 a short video of a Shanxi grill chef who closely resembled tech billionaire Elon Musk went viral on Chinese platforms, prompting thousands of visitors to the restaurant to snap photos and sample the food. The chef, identified as Ma Jianping, saw a sharp rise in foot traffic but his restaurant’s capacity and earnings remained largely unchanged.

At the same time, a limited‑supply drink called “Vân Nam snow milk” became a viral sensation in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, where long queues formed and many customers left empty‑handed when the batch ran out. The trend quickly spread to other districts and cities.

A few days later, another video of Chef Ma on Douyin attracted over a million likes, cementing his status as an internet sensation. The exposure virtually doubled his business overnight, generated countless memes and AI‑generated images, and highlighted the blend of celebrity culture with social‑media virality in China. Ma expressed shyness about the fame and said he had no plans to monetize it through live‑streaming, preferring to focus on the restaurant.

Together, these snapshots illustrate how rapid online sharing can turn ordinary food venues and products in China and Vietnam into nationwide phenomena, driving massive public interest while the underlying businesses struggle to scale.