JUNHAO WU  吴俊豪

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McAmen  麦门2021-Present

Is Life Just About Eating McDonald’s in Different Places?  (Update Oct 2025)

人生就是在不同的地方吃麦当劳吗？(2025年10月更新）


Well, where do I start here?

Maybe, let me introduce this project briefly first of all?

In the past four years, I’ve visited more than 150 McDonald’s across Eurasia (mainly in the UK and China) and eaten over 350 Filet-O-Fish (Yeah, I only eat Filet-O-Fish, maybe it can barely be considered an Endurance Art). Every time before I eat a Filet-O-Fish, I always take a photo of the Filet-O-Fish bun from a fixed top-down angle and upload it to the Chinese social platform Rednote (Xiaohongshu). Because of this “nonsense act of persistence”, I got a bit of attention on Chinese social media, perhaps it has changed my life, or perhaps not.

好的，从何说起呢？

首先简要介绍一下这个项目，就是我在过去四年多的时间里，到达了欧亚大陆150+麦当劳（主要在英国和中国），吃了超过300+个麦香鱼的故事。每次我吃一个麦香鱼前，都会以固定俯视视角拍摄一张麦香鱼堡的照片，并上传到中国社交媒体小红书，因为这个无聊的坚持行为我受到了一些关注，这也许改变了我的生活又或许没有。


Ok, let me introduce more about the project. Four years ago, most parts of the world were still under pandemic restrictions. I was studying Contemporary Photography; Practices and Philosophies at Central Saint Martins in London. Because I long to return to the so-called "normal life", I thought that the day I could walk in a McDonald’s freely might be the beginning of returning to "normal life”... 

In the summer of 2021, as England began a phased exit from lockdown, I stepped into the McDonald’s at King’s Cross in London, and ordered a Filet-O-Fish by chance. I was struck by the smooth of the Filet-O-Fish bun and took a photo, unaware that it would be the start of the project.

接下来展开讲讲这个项目，四年前全球大部分地区还在疫情期间，我就读于伦敦中央圣马丁 当代摄影；摄影与实践专业。因为渴望回到所谓的“正常生活”，我认为某一天能够自如的进出麦当劳了便是回归“正常生活”的开始，2021年的夏天，英格兰地区解除了Covid封锁，我踏进了位于伦敦国王十字的那家麦当劳，并机缘巧合的点了一个麦香鱼，惊叹于麦香鱼堡的光滑并随手拍下了一张照片。


So, why the Filet-O-Fish? Maybe for a young guy from a small town in China, who had just arrived in London to study during the pandemic, the fish&chips and the smooth buns ( I’m not talking about the sleek and masculine bald heads…) perfectly matched most people’s (or my) stereotypes of Britain. Furthermore, the Filet-O-Fish was a great value for money product of McDonald’s, it fit my saver-student lifestyle, it covered my daily nutritional needs, and it didn’t taste bad at all. Even now, I still think Filet-O-Fish tasted good every time I eat it.

至于为什么是麦香鱼，可能对于一个在疫情期间初到伦敦读书的中国小城孩子而言，炸鱼排和光滑的堡（ 好的，不是指阳刚的英国光头们）符合了大部分人（ 或者 我本人）对于英国刻板印象的全部想象。并且，具有性价比的麦香鱼能满足我作为节俭人士及学生身份的日常营养需求，而且并不难吃，直到今天每次吃麦香鱼时仍然觉得好吃。

And why the McDonald’s? It’s definitions of standardisation, modernisation, and globalisation are as well-known as the McDonald’s brand itself. For children who grew up during China’s period of economic growth, McDonald’s formed part of a happy childhood memory, Ronald McDonald, Happy Meals, and the toys that came with them.

 For children born and raised during China's economic growth period, McDonald's is part of their fond childhood memories: Ronald McDonald, the Happy Meal toys, and the precious family time.

I still remember that when I was in primary school, my mom once brought back a McDonald’s meal from the provincial capital by train. Even the food was stone cold, it was still an unique experience I could show off to schoolmates the next day. As a child, of course, I didn't know why that counted as a bragging rights. Maybe I get the answer now: we don't really desire the experience of eating McDonald’s or the burgers themselves, but we desire what others desire (which can be shaped by public media).
When I grew older, I dreamed of leaving my hometown, hoping that one day I can live in a city and eat McDonald's every day.

至于为什么是麦当劳呢。其标准化，现代化，全球化的这些定义和麦当劳品牌本身一样广为人知。

麦当劳对于出生成长于中国经济增长时期的孩子们是美好童年记忆的一部分，麦当劳叔叔，开心乐园餐和随餐赠送的玩具。
我还记得小学时母亲从省会城市坐火车带回来的汉堡与薯条，即使已经凉透了，仍是值得隔天去学校炫耀的资本，至于为什么这也能成为炫耀的资本呢，年少的我自然不知道。现在也许知道了，我们渴望的不是汉堡薯条本身，而是别人所渴望的东西（这些都是可以通过大众传媒塑造的）。
再长大些就是幻想着离开家乡，期望有朝一日去到城市生活，过上每天都能吃上麦当劳的生活。

This imagination also seems to have influenced my choices as an adult, though I never seriously imagined I'd actually have the chance to live in London one day. After all, before people actually live in London, all their fantasies are nothing but idealised fantasies. And these fantasies, including my own fantasy of a so called better life, also included the fantasy of “eating McDonald's every day.”
It wasn’t until later that I finally realised eating a McDonald's meal in a capital city and having a bowl of stir-fried noodles in my hometown are actually the same ordinary life experience. So, what exactly was the "better life" that I was constantly chasing?

这种想象或多或少影响了我成年后的选择，但我从未认真设想过，自己有一天真的会有机会在伦敦生活。毕竟，在真正来到伦敦之前，所有的想象都只是理想化的幻想。而这种幻想，包括我对更好的生活的幻想，自然也包括“每天都能吃上麦当劳”。直到后来我才意识到，吃一份麦当劳和在家乡吃一碗炒粉，其实是同样平常的生活体验。这个“更好”的标准究竟为何？

Amid the turbulent life in London, I desperately needed an anchor point to steady my world. The barrage of information and culture shocks, the annoyances and challenges I faced everyday just tore me apart… 
I began frequenting the McDonald's at King’s Cross, and each time I sat by the window eating Filet-O-Fish,  watching the hurried comings and goings of King’s Cross Square brought me comfort. This McDonald’s became a harbour for my everyday emotions. And Every time I opened the box of Filet-O-Fish and saw the smooth or damaged buns, it felt like the line from Forrest Gump: “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get.”

在伦敦生活的风雨飘摇，让我迫切需要一个生活的支点，每天接收到的信息与冲击，遇到的烦恼挑战都足以把“我”冲散。国王十字的那家麦当劳便成为了承载我日常情绪的灯塔，每次打开麦香鱼的盒子，面对光滑或者破损的堡，就像阿甘正传里的那句台词““生活就像一盒巧克力，你永远不知道下一块会是什么味道”。 再看着窗外国王十字广场的人流随着疫情的过去逐渐变多，我似乎也准备好开始人生的下个阶段。

As I kept updating more Filet-O-Fish photos and related content to the Rednone, my influence on the Chinese social media grew accordingly.
Firstly, many Rednote users discovered that photos of "perfect" and "smooth" buns could fit the algorithm and bring more views&likes to the account. People all like the smooth bun, out of curiosity they were more likely to click on such posts. Moreover, some users began associating the smoothness of a bun's surface with the smoothness of their day, akin to divination. These “smooth buns” images can bring significantly more views and likes to their social media account; some user even started using the portrait-style skin-smoothing filters to edit their bun photos. A single “airbrushed” bun image could attract hundreds of thousands of views (fine, that’s so contemporary art), yet it also seemed to run counter to my original idea that “whether perfect or imperfect, it deserves acceptance”.

随着在小红书上不断更新的麦香鱼照片与内容越来越多，我的中文互联网影响力也随之扩大。
首先，广大的小红书用户发现隐喻“完美”的“光滑”的堡的照片能够契合算法，给账号带来更多的数据流量，一张经过“磨皮处理”的堡的照片能够带来数十万的浏览，这很当代艺术，但似乎也与我对于“无论完美或者不完美”都值得接受的想法有些背道而驰。

Secondly, after the pandemic, with the global economy sliding into recession, many young people living in cities and just entering society (the real jungle) were forced into a “saver” lifestyle. My own insistence on eating Filet-O-Fish resonated with this widespread condition among the young generation, while also consciously or unconsciously resonating with the then-current McDonald's ‘McAmen’ or ‘McWorship’ marketing trend in China. Initially, I considered it as a joke, such like a viral meme akin to the “Pastafarianism.” To be honest, I felt a bit weird when McDonald's China started to follow this trend. I disliked this kind of officially orchestrated, quasi-religious marketing campaign. So much so that in early 2024, when I was offered a position in the public relations department at McDonald's China headquarters, I declined after careful consideration. If I accepted the offer, I might not be writing these seemingly plausible reflections now, and I would be on McDonald's side.

I also deeply realise a truth that I am just a person leveraging social platforms ("platform" in the context of contemporary photography can also be understood as a "device for photography"), borrowing the global influence of McDonald’s to unfold a more personal mode of observation and storytelling.

其次，疫情之后因为全球经济下行，许多在都市生活且刚进入社会的年轻人不得不开始了一种 saver 生活，而我坚持吃麦香鱼的行为顺应了这一年轻人普遍的社会处境，却也在有意无意间呼应了当时中国麦当劳的 “麦门” 营销趋势。起初，对于我来说这只是一个类似“飞天面条教”的笑话式 表情包病毒营销，其实打心底里我并不喜欢这种官方介入与定义的、类似宗教式的营销。以至于在 2024 年初，面对中国麦当劳总部公关部职位的入职邀请时，我思考再三还是拒绝了。若我当时接受，也许就不会写下这些似是而非的话语了。因为我也深刻认识到自己不过是一个依托于社交平台（这里的“平台”，在当代摄影语境中同样可以被理解为“摄影发生的装置”），借势于麦当劳的全球影响力，去展开一种个人化的观察与叙事的传播。

This project has been going on for four years now, and my life has changed a lot or maybe not. I still live in London, occasionally eating a Filet-O-Fish, basking in the sun, weathering the storms… I've also visited as many places as I can reach, persevering with the nonsense act "eating Filet-O-Fish at different McDonald's around the world." There are still many distant places I want to visit. Back in my hometown, there are now two McDonald’s (there used to be three, but one closed during the pandemic, which is a rare situation, that’s a good point to prove some ideological differences in there. This is really a big topic maybe we can talk next time). 

如今这个项目已经持续了四年，我的生活发生了许多变化又或许没有。
我还生活在伦敦，偶尔会去吃麦香鱼，享受着阳光，经历着风雨飘摇，也去过了一些力所能及能够到达的地方，进行打卡一般的无聊的坚持，去“世界各地不同的麦当劳吃麦香鱼”，还有很多想去的远方；我的故乡小城现在也有了两家麦当劳（曾经有三家，疫情期间倒闭了一家，这是不多见的情况，足以证明一些意识形态的不同，这实在是一个很大的话题）。

Many people have asked me how this project will end, like stopping a painting or concluding a novel. I haven't figured it out yet. Maybe it's when I receive the offer from McDonald's? Maybe it's when I eat 500 Filet-O-Fish? Maybe it's when I enter the next phase of my life and the project comes to an abrupt end? Or maybe it's when I complete the McDonald's Worldwide check-in achievement? ... Or maybe there's no answer at all. It won't stop, but will gradually become part of my daily life. McDonald's will still be McDonald's, the Filet-O-Fish will still be the Filet-O-Fish, and I will still be myself, maybe this is the life I choose.

曾有很多人问我，这个项目将终止于何处呢？我也一直没想好，也许是在接到麦当劳的offer的那一刻就该停止了？也许是定个目标吃到500个麦香鱼？也许是人生进入下一阶段该项目就戛然而止？又或许是在世界各地都打卡过麦当劳的目标实现之后？…又或许根本没有答案，它不会停止，而是逐渐融入我的日常，成为我生活的一部分。麦当劳还是那个麦当劳，麦香鱼也许还是那个麦香鱼，我也许还是我，或许这就是我选择的生活。


If you would like to support me in continuing this project:

Rednote homepage: https://www.xiaohongshu.com/user/profile/5b69a1356830ea00019f5405

Support my nonsense act of persistence: https://gofund.me/eb803ce7

An Interview Report : https://ourculturemag.com/2024/09/08/junhao-wu-just-what-is-it-that-makes-todays-homies-so-different-so-appealing/

Booooooom Art Report: https://www.booooooom.com/2025/09/26/mcamen-by-artist-junhao-wu/

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