Changsha (China) (AFP) – At a gleaming new factory in China’s hinterland, hundreds of masked workers in white hygiene uniforms season, haul, and sift through mounds of latiao, one of the country’s favourite snacks and, recently, a viral overseas trend. Spicy, sweet, and curiously chewy, Chinese latiao – literally “spicy sticks” – are often condemned as junk food, yet have nonetheless become an industry worth close to 100 billion yuan ($17.4 billion), with livestreams targeting youthful consumers and the fiery snacks even reaching overseas as TikTok users embrace them as part of a ‘Chinamaxxing’ trend.
