The 'Zombies in China' TikTok trend explained

Trends come and go on TikTok but the latest one making rounds has caused concern as it claims there will be a zombie apocalypse which will start in China.

But before you start prepping your apocalypse survival plans, there's no need to worry about a future invasion of the living dead as it is not true.

The TikTok hashtag "Zombies in China" has received 4.3m views as people share their confusion (and sense of humour) about the topic.

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Here's a breakdown of what the trend is all about.

Where did this all begin?

It appears the trend emerged as a result of a misinterpretation surrounding a 2021 article titled: "This is how a zombie apocalypse is most likely to start in China."

The author explains how he believes hypothetically, a zombie apocalypse would most likely begin in a communist country like China, rather than the UK or US where most zombie and horror films are typically set because he claims "western countries do not keep quiet for long when it come to a worldwide threat."

Meanwhile, the author added how "Communist countries have time and again chosen to suppress information until it is no longer deniable," and gave the 1986 Chernobyl disaster that took place in the Soviet Union as an example.

The story also includes a quote from the Zombie novel World War Z by Max Brooks, that says: "By refusing to admit the truth of the zombie outbreak to the world, the Communist Chinese government aided its spread due to misinformation about what was actually happening."

Somehow in 2022, the story began to cause hysteria.

So how did "Zombies in China" become a trend?

Like anything on the internet, the initial source of the trend is unclear but people began to discuss "Zombies in China" on TikTok and Twitter and incorrectly thought that it was some kind of eerie prediction.

People took to social media to share their concerns and confusion, as one TikTok video asked: "Why isn't anyone talking about the zombies in China?"

"There's f****** zombies in China now TF?!?!? China explain now," another TikTok read.

While others had a humorous reaction to the trend.

All in all, given the fact that zombies are not real the answer is no - there's no looming zombie apocalypse in China, despite what your For You page might suggest.

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