干饭人gàn fàn rén

In the meme, the first character of 干饭 is read gàn, a casual verb for “do”, and 饭 is rice or a meal, so 干饭 is eating as if it were a job. Saying 干饭了！ at noon announces that work stops and lunch starts.

干饭人 is self-mocking and proud at the same time. It is close to the English “foodie”, but it is about eating a lot, not eating well.

It is still used, mostly as a lunchtime joke in group chats. It sounds young and casual, so keep it out of formal invitations.

In standard Mandarin, 干饭 read gān fàn is a noun: cooked rice, as opposed to porridge. Read gàn fàn, it was already dialect for “eat” in Sichuan and Chongqing. The meme came in late 2020 from a Douyin video by a rural creator: he holds up a bowl of rice and calls out 干饭了干饭了 while chickens rush to their food. NetEase reported the video in December 2020 and noted that companies had rushed to register the name as a trademark.

It arrived just after 打工人, and the two slogans were joined: 干饭人，干饭魂，干饭都是人上人 copies the workers’ slogan.