‘Punk Health’ Foods Are Popular with China’s Youth中國青年熱衷“朋克養生”

魏麗莎／文　葉子／譯

Sometimes， rebellion means goji berries in your beer.

有時，叛逆就是在啤酒里加枸杞。

Goji berries in beer. Chinese medicinal herbs infused in coffee. Staying up all night， but eating a bowl of bird’s nest soup to feel better. You get the gist.

往啤酒里加枸杞；用咖啡沖泡中草藥；熬個大通宵，再用一碗燕窩湯來恢復狀態；這種操作的要點，你懂的。

For the last couple of years， a seemingly oxymoronic concept has been adopted by a broad cross-section of young， urban people in China. “Punk health，” or péngkè yǎngshēng， means pairing a vice with a seemingly healthy ingredient.

近幾年來，一種看似矛盾的理念為中國各個階層的廣大城市青年所接受。“朋克養生”就是將不良的生活方式與看似健康的飲食搭配到一起。

“People born in the 80s and 90s are almost in their 40s and 30s now， but they also don’t want to follow the same conventional health advice as their parents， like drinking hot beverages or just eating goji berries，” explains Chen Bai-ling， a Chinese fitness blogger who has written about the concept before. “But they’re also realizing that they have to take care of their body， so this is their form of compromise.”

“80后和90后現在也都三四十歲了，他們不想像父母那樣遵循老一套的養生理念，比如喝熱飲，或者只是吃枸杞。”曾寫文介紹“朋克養生”的中國健身博主陳柏齡解釋說，“他們也意識到了必須照顧好自己的身體，所以這是他們妥協的方式。”

The term “punk health” first appeared on the Chinese internet in 2017 and reached its apex in 2019， with a slew of1 articles and videos describing the phenomenon. One news report， for example， featured a 22-year-old girl in China who slept at 3 a.m. every night， but put on five face masks every day to help soothe her increasingly tired skin.“It’s not only self-deprecating， but also a trendy attitude towards life，” writes one article.

“朋克養生”一詞于2017年首次出現在中國互聯網上，其熱度在2019年達到鼎盛，當時有大量文章和視頻介紹這一現象。例如，一篇新聞報道介紹了一名22歲的中國女孩，她每天凌晨3點鐘睡覺，但每天敷5張面膜來補救她日顯疲態的肌膚。“這不僅是自嘲，也是一種時尚的生活態度。”一篇文章寫道。

Brands have been quick to cash in on2 the concept. Several wellness companies received an influx of financing from venture capital firms to jump on the punk-health bandwagon3. The goal is to create a product to give customers a shortcut to an otherwise healthy and balanced lifestyle.

各品牌迅速從這個理念中尋到商機。風險投資公司給保健品公司投錢，是為了讓他們能趕上“朋克養生”這股潮流。他們的目標是研發一種產品，為顧客提供一條可以達成另一種健康均衡生活方式的捷徑。

And it has proven to be wildly lucrative. One granola bar that was marketed as a meal （similar to Soylent， but solid form） made $3 million USD in monthly sales only half a year after it launched.

事實證明，這種做法的利潤極其豐厚。一款作為正餐銷售的格蘭諾拉燕麥棒（類似索倫特營養公司的代餐飲料，只是采用了固體形態），上市僅半年，月銷售額就達到300萬美元。

Many such products take cues from4 traditional Chinese medicine， but add a rebellious twist. There are energy drinks infused with dates or hawthorn， coffee with donkey gelatin （thought to help nourish the blood）， and candy infused with melatonin to help insomniacs sleep. While many of these foods aren’t necessarily new or novel， they embody the concept in their marketing and sleek branding. The goal is to offset “bad behavior” by consuming something virtuously healthful.

許多“朋克養生”產品模仿中藥，但添加了叛逆的新元素。有的功能飲料中泡著紅棗或者山楂；有的咖啡中加入了阿膠（據信可補氣血）；有的糖果中含有褪黑素，能幫助失眠癥患者入睡。這類食品中的大多數并不一定是新上市或者新研發出來的，但品牌在營銷和打造自身時尚形象時，都會賦予這類食品“朋克養生”的概念。此舉旨在以食用合乎養生之道的食物抵消“不良生活習慣”對健康造成的傷害。

One current commercial frontrunner is Ye Yu Cha， or Night with Tea. These are tea blends specially designed especially for hard-partying night owls. The tea bags come filled with healthful-sounding ingredients like ginseng， goji， tangerine peel， sea buckthorn， and licorice. The idea is that you drink the concoction after a long night out to balance out5 the effects of staying awake for too long. However， on top of each tea package， underneath the brand name， is advice to “sleep earlier tomorrow.”

目前“朋克養生”領域的一個商業領跑者是“夜與茶”。該品牌的調制茶專為狂歡作樂的夜貓子調配。茶包里裝滿了人參、枸杞、陳皮、沙棘、甘草等聽起來很健康的成分。產品理念是讓你在熬完大夜后喝下調制茶，抵消長時間不睡覺對身體的傷害。然而，每盒茶的外包裝上面，就在品牌名稱的下方，都標注著“明天早一點睡”的建議。

But more than a collection of sleek products， punk health is a state of mind. “Another example is that you constantly stay up all night， but buy the most expensive eye cream to compensate，” Chen says. Or exercise during the day， yet binge on fried chicken right afterwards. Spend all day looking at your phone and feel bad about it， but then change the screen background to a forest to feel a little bit better. Eat a large serving of spicy hot pot， and drink a cup of chrysanthemum tea to ease the stomach. “There’s a contradiction to it， but it represents the type of contradiction that young people feel about their lives，” Chen says.

“朋克養生”不僅僅是一系列時尚的產品，更是一種心態。“另外一個例子是，你經常熬夜，但買最貴的眼霜來補救。”陳柏齡說。還有很多例子，比如：白天辛苦鍛煉，之后狂吃炸雞；整天盯著手機，心里過意不去，但把屏幕背景設置成森林就稍感舒心；吃一大份麻辣火鍋，再喝一杯菊花茶來緩解對胃的刺激。“這類行為中存在一種矛盾，而這正體現了年輕人對生活抱有的那種矛盾之感。”陳柏齡解釋道。

Punk health is ultimately a half-hearted attempt by young people to get a grasp on their health. It’s an achievable， relatable regimen for millennials and Gen Zers in China who aren’t old enough to seriously feel the effects of aging yet， but feel like they should start thinking about it soon. More insidiously， it’s also a reaction to the “996” work culture， in which employees are required to work from 9am to 9pm， 6 days a week. Younger workers are facing burnout and anxiety， and punk health is their way of dealing with it.

“朋克養生”歸根到底是年輕人為維持身體健康所作的漫不經心的嘗試。中國的千禧一代和Z世代還年輕，尚不能真正感受到衰老對他們的影響，但他們覺得自己應該盡快著手考慮這個問題。“朋克養生”對他們而言是一個可實現、能認同的養生方案。從更隱秘的層面來說，“朋克養生”是對“996”的回應。這種工作文化要求員工從早上九點工作到晚上九點，一周六天。年輕的員工們精疲力盡、焦慮不安，“朋克養生”是他們的應對方式。

“Young people are afraid of death， but they can’t escape the pressure from work，” an interviewee told China Investment Network， who conducted a survey on the trend. “Since they can’t restrain the urge to eat junk food， they indulge in punk health.”

“年輕人怕死，但又沒法擺脫工作壓力。”一位受訪者告訴中國投資網（該網站對“朋克養生”風潮進行了調查），“既然無法克制吃垃圾食品的沖動，他們干脆沉溺于‘朋克養生’。”

The term punk health is intended to be tongue-in-cheek6， though Chen points out that its defiant appeal is fading. Instead of bolstering themselves with purchased punk-health remedies， young people are increasingly describing themselves as “salted fish” and “buddha youth”. The former is a metaphor for a dead fish， referring to a person with no ambitions. And the latter describes a disinterested generation that’s unfazed by worldly obligations.

“朋克養生”一詞意在調侃，但陳柏齡指出，這個概念因具有反叛意味而吸引人，但這份吸引力如今已漸漸消退。年輕人不是用購買的“朋克養生”產品來增強自己的體質，而是越來越多地自嘲為“咸魚”和“佛系青年”。前者是死魚的隱喻，指沒有抱負的人。后者描述的是沒有欲望、不受世事所擾的一代人。

“They see their parents’ generation， who worked hard for many decades to earn money. But when they retire， they have all sorts of health problems that can’t be solved with money，” says Chen. Taking life more casually and acknow-ledging the human body’s physical limits， then， may be the biggest rebellion of all.

“他們看到父母那代人幾十年來辛辛苦苦地賺錢，退休之后卻出現各種用錢解決不了的健康問題。”陳柏齡說。因此，更隨性地對待生活，坦然承認人體的生理局限，可能就是最大的叛逆。

1 a slew of許多；大量。? 2 cash in （on sth）〈習語〉從中牟利；撈到好處。? 3 jump on the bandwagon〈習語〉趕時髦；追隨潮流。? 4 take cues from sb/sth〈習語〉模仿……的樣子做；學……的樣。

5 balance out相抵；抵消。

6 tongue-in-cheek隨便說說的；開玩笑的。