--- ---  # Shopping with your heart, not your head  _Tourists visit the “scruffy dog” topiary in Jing’an district, Shanghai. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY_ By SHI JING Shanghai recently witnessed the birth of an unlikely internet sensation — a 17-foot-high “scruffy dog” topiary in central Shanghai’s Jing’an district. Originally designed for the 2026 Shanghai International Flower Show from April 18 to May 5, the West Highland White Terrier-shaped shrubbery, made up of more than 20 types of flowers and plants, has become so popular that the city decided to keep it on display for another three months. In less than a month, more than 30 million people have flocked to see it. The local government has also invited people to give it a name based on its shape and the rapidly growing greenery it is made of. The cute attraction, located in the outdoor area of Shanghai Suhe MIXC World, is also being credited with triggering skyrocketing sales in the vicinity. Retailers located around the topiary reaped over 2 billion yuan ($295 million) in sales during the official exhibition period. Total sales revenue has jumped 49.22% year-on-year to nearly 61.6 million yuan since “scruffy dog” was unveiled. A total of 1.7 million consumers visited the mall over the period, up 192.53% from a year earlier. “People have come for the scruffy dog. They linger, take pictures, then find themselves grabbing a coffee, sitting down for a meal, and strolling through the nearby shops. Wrapped in a sense of calm, consumption unfolded as a natural afterthought,” officials from the commerce bureau of Jing’an district said. The topiary dog is now being considered for cultural and creative product development, according to Jing’an district officials. The Chinese consumer market has entered a new age, according to Joanna Lu, a partner at consulting company Bain & Co. “The core of consumption is ‘love.’ People are looking for meaning and emotional value from different experiences. That is why consumption is more driven by scenarios, social groups and sentiments,” she said. Liu Gongrun, deputy director at the CEIBS Lujiazui International Institute of Finance, said the Chinese consumer market has been undergoing a revolution, moving from buying tangible goods to savoring intangible services. Consumer satisfaction has been upgraded from goods to value, Liu said. In 2025, China’s sales of services grew 5.5% from a year earlier, 1.7 percentage points higher than that of goods, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. Moreover, service consumption has consistently outpaced goods consumption for years. A look at the consumption habits of wealthy Chinese also provides an insight into the changing consumer market, as industry figures predict future lifestyle trends. Consumption in China has been rapidly transforming from “possessing things” to “prioritizing experiences,” the Hurun Research Institute, which has been researching affluent Chinese for nearly three decades, said in a report in January. A similar consumption trend is happening among younger Chinese. _Guochao_, or China chic, reflects their close connection to Chinese culture with aesthetic value and shopping experiences overtaking brand cachet, said Liu from the institute of finance. The younger generation’s greater demand for experiences is making the focus of domestic brands more international, as younger consumers are well-educated with a global outlook. This means brands will have to be more innovative to provide “extraordinary” experiences, Liu said. Purchasing domestic brands can evolve from a one-time shopping spree to repeated purchases, he added. “The core targets of the _guochao_ brands, which are younger consumers aged between 20 and 30, are more rational and less easily drawn to the traditional internationally well-established brands. To them, consumption is an expression of their own value. The product’s worthiness outweighs affordability when they buy something,” Liu said. According to market consultancy iiMedia Research, the _guochao_ market size reached 2.5 trillion yuan in 2025, with the figure expected to top 3 trillion yuan in 2028. The rise in China chic has also been boosted by inbound travelers looking for different consumer experiences in China, iiMedia analysts added. “Chinese consumers now have a ‘value awakening’,” Lu of Bain & Co said. “More and more consumers are willing to pay for emotional value and spiritual satisfaction. Consumers are no longer buyers. They wish to express their emotions, seek out experiential scenarios, participate in culture and even co-create brand stories with each purchase,” she said. [](https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/) ## China Daily Website - Connecting China Connecting the World Since its launch in 1981, China Daily has grown to become the nation’s leading English-language newspaper. With a combined print, online and mobile readership of more than 470 million, it serves a vital role in telling the world about China, providing valuable insight into the world’s second-largest economy. [LEARN MORE](https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/) China Daily - TIME - Partner Content - Shopping with your heart, not your head ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/branded-content/china-daily/shopping-with-your-heart-not-your-head/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/branded-content/china-daily/shopping-with-your-heart-not-your-head/"},"headline":"Shopping with your heart, not your head","datePublished":"2026-07-09T07:55:56.075Z","dateModified":"2026-07-09T07:55:50.663Z","description":"Shopping with your heart, not your head","url":"https://time.com/branded-content/china-daily/shopping-with-your-heart-not-your-head/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/branded-content/china-daily/shopping-with-your-heart-not-your-head/","name":"Shopping with your heart, not your head"}}]}] ```