Why overstressed Chinese workers are growing bananas on their office desk

Going bananas at work? The Chinese employees have found a quirky way out.

A workplace trend, whimsically called ‘Stop Banana Green’ has been gaining widespread attention in China, where corporate employees are cultivating bananas on their desks to combat workplace stress and boost productivity.

But exactly how is this trend helping burned-out employees? Let’s take a closer look

What is ‘Stop Banana Green’ practice?

The trend has got its creative name from a Mandarin phrase, ’ting zhi jiao lu’ which literally means “stop anxiety” in English.

Employees start by purchasing green bananas with their stems intact and placing them in vases of water right on their desks. Over about a week, as they care for these plants, the bananas ripen from green to sunshine yellow and are ready to eat. This simple yet therapeutic process has been winning all hearts in China.

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“From lush green to golden yellow, every moment is filled with endless hope and surprises,” The South China Morning Post quoted a netizen as saying.“Eat away the anxiety and let your troubles vanish,” the comment added.

Supporting the effectiveness of this practice, a Japanese study in 2020 found that individuals who kept a small plant on their desks experienced lower levels of anxiety and stress. The study involved 63 full-time desk job employees who, over a four-week period, were instructed to take three-minute breaks whenever they felt “fatigued” to tend to, water, and gaze at their desk plants.

The ‘Stop Banana Green’ trend originated on Xiaohongshu, China’s equivalent of Instagram, where posts about this unique banana-growing hobby have amassed over 22,000 likes.

A conversation starter

While employees say following this trend is a fun distraction from work pressures, it has also been helping them to improve workplace relationships.

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“Desktop bananas naturally generate conversation,” one online observer said in the SCMP report, adding that sharing bananas with colleagues can foster a sense of camaraderie. Additionally, some individuals are even personalising the bananas by inscribing their colleagues’ names on the skin as a playful way to “reserve” them before distributing them among coworkers.

The desk banana trend has extended to Taobao, a prominent e-commerce platform operated by Alibaba Group. Numerous stores now offer bananas tailored for this purpose, with the top seller moving over 20,000 bunches alone. This spike in demand has raised suspicions that banana farmers may have initiated the trend as a strategic marketing tactic to bolster sales during a downturn.

“Are bananas not selling well this year? I’ve seen this type of banana being advertised more than once, and they are more expensive than buying them directly,” remarked one sceptical user on Xiaohongshu.

Notably, in addition to cultivating bananas, some young professionals are also growing pineapples in vases.

A desk garden

This trend is not only proving to not only bring people close to their colleagues but also their work.

A worker in her 30s, surnamed Yang told SCMP, “My workstation is like a tropical rainforest, it feels like I’ve stepped into spring early,” adding that she plans to grow fruit on her desk and plans to add more.

Elucidating this trend to Shanghai’s Youth Newspaper, psychologist Yu Guangrui said: “Customising workstations according to personal preferences allows young people to create a sense of belonging and security in their own little space, helping them feel happier at work.”

The previous month, the trend known as the “20-minute park effect”  also gained traction in the country, as urban office workers realised that even a short visit to a city park could boost their well-being and happiness.

In the previous year, young people in China embraced tree-hugging as a method to reduce workplace anxiety.

With the average working week exceeding 49 hours, many have dubbed the situation in China as “modern slavery” due to its outright violation of labour laws. In this hustle culture, burned-out young professionals are looking for relaxing escapes and growing desk fruits is certainly one of them.

With inputs from agencies