"China Haul" has become the latest buzzword on social media, as foreign visitors arrive in China with empty suitcases and leave with them stuffed with purchases. In August, Elon Musk's mother, Maye Musk, was spotted shopping at a MINISO store in Shanghai, and the internet took notice.
That moment captured something bigger: in an age when you can buy almost anything without leaving your couch, why do young people still make a special trip to a physical store?
A standard MINISO FRIENDS store carries 8,000 to 10,000 stock-keeping units (SKUs), and roughly 90 percent of them are IP products. Walk in, and it's characters everywhere—careful store design and themed installations turn shopping into a social experience and the store into a ready-made backdrop for photos and their first post of the day.
But the fun doesn't stop when you walk out the door. Young people take IP toys like YOYO home and keep remixing them, creating fresh content and a second wave of online sharing.
This model is rooted in Guangdong's supply chain. And it's not just a China thing.
Theme-park-style MINISO stores have already opened across North America, Europe, Southeast Asia, South Korea and beyond, while Chinese IPs like YOYO keep going global—from Paris exhibitions to space-themed projects.
As the store manager at Guangzhou's Bai'etan MixC put it, MINISO is now moving from exporting goods to exporting its brand and Chinese IPs. By turning its physical stores into immersive experiences and everyday lifestyle spaces, MINISO shows how a Guangdong-born brand is not just selling products but exporting a way of life that resonates with young people worldwide.
Reporter | Xie Maishi
Filming | Chen Junpeng
Photographer | Chen Junpeng
Video editor | Chen Junpeng
Cover | Chen Junpeng
