The story
Perhaps from the World War I era, from the former Western use of Chinese as an ethnic and racial slur; now used only as a festive exclamation.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Chinese fire drill
Today it means: A prank performed while stopped in a car at a red light, and where each passenger, including the driver, shouts "Chinese fire drill", exits the vehicle, runs at least once around it, then re-enters, each taking a different seat. Full definition →