Hit Chinese TV show Blossoms Shanghai taps into culture and ignites spending – but can the consumption craze be copied?
- A taste for Chinese nostalgia and a dash of history are proving to be a boon for business where famed director Wong Kar-wai’s new show, Blossoms Shanghai, is set
- Domestic goods are increasingly driving sales in China at a time when retail choices have begun to shift away from the long-time pursuit of international brands
It’s 11am on a recent morning, and Shanghai’s normally quiet Huanghe Road is nearly overrun by a deluge of diners with a taste for nostalgic culture.
Tai Sheng Yuan, the real-life location of a restaurant depicted in a hit Chinese drama featuring Shanghai in the 1990s, has seen its business surge since Blossoms Shanghai, famed Hong Kong director Wong Kar-wai’s first television series, premiered on December 27.
“All of our big tables have been booked through Chinese New Year’s Eve [on February 9]. We can’t provide any reservations before that,” explains a staff member at Tai Sheng Yuan.
The surging popularity of the restaurant, which was founded in 1993 and specialises in traditional Shanghai cuisine, came as fans of the series have been flocking to the landmarks, indulging in the cuisine, and buying the clothes featured in the show.
The spending spree set off by the show – which details the lives of Shanghainese people in the early days of China’s economic rise – epitomises how local culture and domestic products are increasingly driving consumption in the country at a time when retail choices have begun to shift away from the long-time pursuit of international brands, according to economic observers.