What's Up With This Fat Chinese Baby? Memes About The Gummy Bear Shaped Baby Explained

An image of an oddly gummy-bear-shaped baby has been making the rounds online, with internet users cooing over the baby's odd proportions before pledging their allegiance to him. The Fat Chinese Baby dropped into the internet purview seemingly out of the blue in January 2024, but his roots can be traced back to China's own Instagram-type app, Xiaohongshu.

Fans of the round infant have begun pitting him against other rotund animals, with one person even conducting a swag-off between Fat Chinese Baby On His Side and an infant wearing Nike Dunks as big as his body. Here's a recap of the Fat Chinese Baby memes being shared online.

Where Does The Image Of The 'Fat Chinese Baby' Come From?

The image of the Fat Chinese Baby does in fact come from China, with several posts being traced to the Xiaohongshu account ID 753455130. His photos first appeared in Western internet circles in July 2023, first posted by baby blogs and then posted by a disgruntled X user who jokingly asked "I can't get over it like what the f--- is this thing."

The post on X gathered over 100,000 likes and 13 million views and was likely the first time Western audiences encountered the gummy bear-shaped baby.

How Did The 'Fat Chinese Baby' Become A Meme?

People began reposting the image of the baby in late 2023, with one person saying that they dreamt about eating him like a burrito, and another one pitting him against an American baby with large Nike Dunks placed on his feet.

The memes didn't stop there; also in December 2023, X user @wifrieren posted an image of a fat cat posed like the baby, saying, "someone turned Fat Chinese Baby into a cat." The shockingly accurate statement was backed up by another user posted an image of a tiny puppy wrapped up in a sock, with a caption that read, "they would be friends."

Where Is The 'Fat Chinese Baby' Now?

While the collective power of a tiny puppy and an oddly shaped baby to melt people's hearts with the intensity of a laser gun cannot be understated, it is unlikely that we will see such an "aww-eliciting" video anytime soon. Thanks to some sleuthing done by TikToker @erin.zona, we know that the Fat Chinese Baby is now a regular-shaped toddler.

For the full history of Fat Chinese Baby, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.