保温杯里泡枸杞

The image of a middle-aged man steeping wolfberries (goji berries) in a thermos flask became the definitive symbol of China's 'middle-age crisis' meme wave. It captures the moment you stop partying and start worrying about your kidneys. Young and not-so-young Chinese use it to mock themselves for adopting the health-obsessed, low-key lifestyle of their parents' generation — trading nightclubs for herbal tea and ambition for survival.

Around 2017, a viral essay described rock star Pu Shu carrying a thermos of wolfberry tea backstage, shocking fans who remembered him as the voice of rebellious youth. The image crystallized anxieties around aging, overwork, and the quiet surrender of the '996' generation, for whom traditional Chinese health remedies became ironic badges of exhausted adulthood.

中年危机自嘲梗，用保温杯泡枸杞象征人到中年、养生焦虑与青春不再。