16 Top Chinamaxxing Things To Do: A Very Chinese Time In My Life (2026)

Bucket List
Written By YenKid

Yes, I’m Chinese.

Here’s my recommended list of 16 realistic, practical things you can do to become Chinamaxxed.

None of that ridiculous AI stuff.

(1-8 are related to food and drink)

(9-16 are related to daily habits and general interests)

1. Drinking hot water and Chinese tea + having a hot water flask ♨️

Context:

Most Chinese people drink hot water every day, even on a hot day. It doesn’t have to be that hot when you take a sip, you can let it cool down a bit.

Also try a Chinese tea like jasmine tea. Both hot water and tea are great for health.

Almost every Chinese person has a hot water flask. This way, you can have hot water when you’re out and about.

👇🏻 Check out my article 20 Drinks You Must Try In China

2. Eating authentic Chinese food 🍜

Context:

If you’re in a Western country, it’s not really most of the stuff you eat in your local restaurant outside of Chinatown. Some dishes “might” be.

Instead, go to one of your local Chinatown’s restaurants. Start with dim sum or Sichuan hotpot.

You’ll know it’s authentic when you see the customers are mostly Chinese.

I’m definitely not against westernised Chinese food though, I worked part-time for 7 years in westernised Chinese restaurants.

Still go for “Westernised” Chinese food - certainly the next best thing! 🤤


👇🏻 Check out these articles

25 National Dishes of China - According To Me!

80 Cantonese Dishes You Should Try

33 Spicy Dishes You Should Try In China

How to Order Food and Drink in China? A Mini-Guide with Key Phrases

16 Misconceptions and Mistakes All First Time Visitors to China Must Know!

3. Using chopsticks for meals, even at home!🥢

Context:

No need to explain this one, I think! Go grab yourselves some fancy ones.

4. Owning a rice cooker 🍚

Context:

My rice cooker is probably a top 3 device in my home. Modern rice cookers are so versatile, you can cook rice, soup, fish, even a full meal!

It’s not that complicated, there are preset functions! If you don’t have one, go get one right now!

5. Going food shopping at a Chinese supermarket 🛒

Context:

Sauces and condiments: Not just soy sauce. Try Lao Gan Ma. Oyster sauce. Hoi sin sauce.

Frozen food: baozi 包子 and dim sum. For desserts, I recommend tangyuan 汤圆 (especially the black sesame one but see what you prefer!)

Candy: I recommend Lai See candy 利是糖 and White Rabbit candy 大白兔奶糖. Most Chinese supermarkets should have at least one of these.

Interested in visiting China?

👉 Check out flight prices to China HERE

👉 Check out hotel rates in China HERE

6. Cooking Chinese soup + congee (called zhou 粥 in Chinese) 🥣

Context:

Chinese soup is one of my favourite comfort foods. It’s very different from soup in western countries. Great for your health.

Try these two: Spare ribs, sweetcorn, carrot soup. Winter melon soup

Congee is another Chinese food that a lot of people haven’t tried.

There’s different kinds of congee. I recommend Ting Zai Zhou 艇仔粥. My favourite home recipe is spare rib congee.

You should be able to cook both soup and congee in your rice cooker - just check the functions!

7. Eating Chinese vegetables like gai lan, bok choy, Chinese mushrooms, tofu 🥬

Context:

Some of my favourite vegetables. There’s so much variety.

For most leafy vegetables, just boil or steam them in water for a few minutes. Remember not to overcook or they will become mushy!

Chinese mushrooms come in many varieties. They go with a lot of things. Tofu too (pun intended)

Don’t forget to look up a recipe if you want to try cooking it!

8. Having less cold food 🧊

Context:

Excessive cold food is considered unhealthy, because it apparently “disrupts” the body’s internal heat.

I’m not saying avoid cold food entirely, just try having some days with hot food only. ♨️

9. Wearing only indoor slippers as soon as you enter your home 🩴

Context:

Nope, we don’t wear disgusting shoes in the house. They’re left by the front door. 🚪

10. Learning to speak and write Chinese 🈶

Context:

Pick a few phrases. Don’t overwhelm yourself! Start with 3-5 phrases every day. Here’s the first one - nǐ hǎo = hello!

Watching practical beginner videos is one of the best methods to begin. Practise out loud! 🗣️

Get an online teacher, if you’re enthusiastic. You can even get a calligraphy teacher to learn Chinese calligraphy!

11. Exercising early morning + practising Chinese style wellness 🧍🏻

Context:

Get up and do some tai chi. Just look up some videos and follow the teacher.

You can even consider acupuncture if the service is available in your local area.

12. Wearing hanfu (traditional Han Chinese clothing) or red clothing 🔴

Context:

I love hanfu! Check it out! It is seriously underrated in today’s society.

If you’ve played any Chinese video games or watched any Chinese movies or series with an ancient setting, you’ll know what I mean.

Wearing red is a great choice too. Red is the symbol of luck, prosperity, and happiness in China. That includes your underwear! 🩲

Bonus points for red hanfu!

13. Finding out your Chinese birthday 📅

Context:

Just search “Convert my date of birth YYYY/MM/DD to my Chinese birthday. Then tell me what day it is in the Western calendar this year”.

The Chinese calendar has different number of days. So your birthday will be on a different day every year on the Western calendar.

Then, you can celebrate your birthday twice!🥳🥳

14. Celebrating Chinese festivals like Chinese New Year and Mid-Autumn Festival 🐉

Context: Well duh! Have a look at my article 8 Top Things To Do During Chinese New Year.

15. Watching Chinese Movies + Playing Chinese Games 🎬

Here are my suggestions:

Movies like Ne Zha 1+2, The Wandering Earth 1+2, Dead To Rights, Kung Fu Hustle.

Check out my article 8 Chinese Movies To Watch + 46 Top Chinese Movies To Watch by Genre

CDramas like The Untamed, Empresses In The Palace

Video Games like Genshin Impact, Black Myth Wukong, Where Winds Meet

Tabletop Games like Chinese Chess (called Xiangqi), Go (one of the oldest board games in the world), Mahjong

Music like Jay Chou, GEM, Mayday, traditional Chinese music like this

16. Visiting China of course!

Context:

If you made it down here, you’re definitely interested, am I right? Check out my articles 👇🏻 to get yourself started.

This whole website is about China travel for newbies! If you read my articles, you will be Chinamaxxed more than most people! 😉

👉 Check out flight prices to China HERE

👉 Check out hotel rates in China HERE

YenKid
Previous

46 Top Chinese Movies To Watch: Best Films by Genre (2026)
Next

8 Top Things To Do During Chinese New Year In China (2026)