How hot is the recent trend of learning Chinese? Just look at the numbers. By the end of 2024 and the beginning of this year, the number of people learning Mandarin in the US doubled more than twice, and in the first half of 2025, over 410,000 people registered for the HSK Chinese exam, a 20% increase compared to the same period last year. There are over 1,400 testing centers in 166 countries worldwide, and every session is fully booked.

The online atmosphere is even more outrageous. Topics like "Foreigners' Chinese Fails" and "HSK Exam Preparation Hell Mode" on a short video platform have surpassed hundreds of billions of views. From European and American international students to African entrepreneurs, everyone is shouting about learning Chinese, fearing they might fall behind if they don't.

Some start with basic greetings, while others immediately challenge tongue-twisting expressions—like the tricky sentence "Summer can wear as much as you want, winter can wear as much as you want." Even more interesting, a bunch of people are practicing speaking with domestic dramas like "Nang Hong" and "Tao Tao Cang Bu Zhu," and there’s even a 65-year-old Japanese guy who has been studying Chinese for 10 years just to attend Mayday's concert.

What does this wave of enthusiasm reflect? It might be a desire for different cultures and a keen sense of future trends amid globalization. Based on data from various platforms, this isn’t just a short-term craze but a deeper cultural attraction that is fermenting.