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Healing the Inner Child

Toys are no longer just for kids, as many adults are buying ‘trendy toys’ for companionship and to provide emotional support in an increasingly stressful society

By Xie Ying , Li Jing , Xu Pengyuan Updated Nov.1

Su Rui was feeling stressed about work when she saw a Labubu doll at a store in Beijing. She was captivated by the monster-esque doll’s wonky grin, sharp teeth protruding. “I felt instantly relaxed,” she said. She bought it at once. “I’ve been immersed in the chaowan community ever since,” she told NewsChina. 　

Chaowan is a term for “trendy toys” which have captured a young adult market in China and beyond, many of whom use them for emotional support. Su said she displays the dozens of chaowan she has collected on a special shelf at home. 　

Soon after Su bought her first Labubu, the cute monster toys created by a Hong Kong designer for leading Chinese mystery box toy maker Pop Mart went viral all over the world, with aftermarket prices soaring. 　

Labubu is only one among a wide variety of chaowan – more and more adults like playing with toys that in the past might have been interpreted as being childish. They include plush dolls, building block sets, puzzles, DIY handcrafts, collectable cards and mystery boxes. 　

These toys serve as a comfort to their owners, who create an emotional bond with them. They also can heal their owners, some of whom are dealing with the trauma of loneliness in early life or mounting pressure in today’s fast-paced society, according to experts.

Haozi’s toy collections (Photo Courtesy of Interviewee)

Haozi’s Striver rabbit plushie sits on a green chair, with a Stitch cushion on the sofa and other collectibles adorning the walls and shelves (Photo Courtesy of Interviewee)

Living Dolls

At her wedding in Beijing, Lin Xin’s favorite teddy bear Biaobiao was her ring bearer. Installed in a remote-control car, when he was driven toward her, she was moved to tears. 　

She told NewsChina the bear was a birthday gift from her parents when she was 4 years old, and has been by her side for 29 years. “He’s like my younger brother. He witnessed how I became what I am now,” she said. 　

In the online community, emotional support toys kept since childhood are called abeibei. Their owners’ connection to them does not diminish as they grow up, but becomes even deeper. 　

Others, like Su, found their favorite toys as adults. Juanzi, also in Beijing, bought a Labubu doll for 170 yuan (US$24) last year that she now considers her best friend. She brings the doll everywhere she goes, snapping photos with it at spots around town. 　

“It’s like I’ve put my memories into the Labubu doll. There’s a special bond between us,” she told NewsChina. “Nobody could have a bond like it with you, even your closest friend or lover, nobody will stay with you always, nobody belongs to you and you alone... Besides, you wouldn’t share everything private with even your best friend, but you can with dolls. You can tell them anything you think and feel and they won’t think you’re insane like others might,” she added. 　

Xiangxiang, also in Beijing, told NewsChina her favorite toys are ball-jointed dolls, known as BJDs in the fan community. These dolls have movable joints and can be posed. She has bought many such dolls in different sizes and calls them her “daughters.” 　

Accordinig to Xiangxiang, she is more generous to her “daughters” than to herself. She buys them beautiful clothes and accessories, many of which cost more than human clothes, hires doll artists to do their makeup, and buys costly doll furniture and accessories. 　

Mianhua wawa, or “cotton dolls,” have been popular in China for several years for similar reasons. Like rag dolls, they are around 10-20 centimeters tall. They originated in South Korea, where owners make cotton dolls look like their favorite pop stars. 　

“You can design or modify your cotton dolls into anybody you want, a pop star, a cartoon character or a TV character,” said Jenny Huang in Shanghai. Her cotton doll looks like a character in a popular Chinese animated IP called Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation. 　

“It’s like a dressing-up game, but you pour much more affection into the dolls,” she told NewsChina. 　

On Douban, a popular culture and entertainment app for reviews and discussions, a group for cotton dolls has more than 30,000 members, and another called “Plush Dolls Are Also Living Beings” has over 50,000 members. They all possess “plush children” and believe they have souls as well. 　

Xue Qing, a plush doll fan in Shanghai, told NewsChina she owns quite a few plush toys, and her favorite is a Peter Rabbit which has been by her side for seven years. “It’s a pure kind of attachment, which makes me feel secure and reassured. You don’t need to consider how to respect it or its emotions, or think how to deal with disputes,” she said.

Return to Childhood

According to Xiangxiang, her affection for BJD dolls may come from her lonely childhood. Her family lived by the sea – her father was often away, and her mother busy working. 　

“My first doll was a Barbie my mother bought me when I was sick,” she said. “I was in hospital for a long time, but the Barbie comforted me.” 　

Xiangxiang believes her dolls’ companionship is even better than her pet cat’s. “My cat is very independent and she doesn’t like to sleep with me and often ignores me... but my dolls are always there for me,” she added. 　

Bai Ling, a 38-year-old in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, told NewsChina that toys have always been part of her life. 　

Growing up, she spent a lot of time at her grandmother’s, as her parents were busy working and studying. 　

“My grandma was always worried I’d get hurt or lost and she hardly ever let me play outside with the other kids, so I had to play alone, but I had lots of toys that my parents bought me to compensate for lack of companions,” she said. “My favorite game was playing house. I was the mother and the doll my daughter. I liked to cook for her using toy cookers and dinnerware... Perhaps that’s why I still love miniature toys.” 　

“I’ve bought many such toys ‘for my daughter,’ but I actually bought them for myself,” she said, smiling. “I feel happy, as if I’ve returned to my childhood.” 　

Haozi in Changchun, Jilin Province, however, argued that few families could afford toys, especially expensive ones, in the 1980s and 1990s when China was transitioning from a planned to a market economy. 　

“I’ve loved toys since childhood, but I owned few then, since my family was poor at the time,” he told NewsChina, revealing that he has bought all sorts of toys for himself now he can afford it. 　

“I’ve been buying them for about seven years. My house is full of toys, even in the laundry room. I also like to buy stuff like lamps, clocks and chairs that are designed like toys,” he said. “It’s like I’m making up for the regrets of my childhood,” he added, revealing that his greatest happiness is organizing and cleaning his toys. 　

Haozi’s favorites are from Digimon, the Japanese animated series and card game, because they stayed with him in his whole childhood.　

“I am nostalgic and miss the old days. I feel I haven’t grown up in my mind. I don’t like growing up and I’m afraid of growing up, since adults have too many worries,” he said. 　

Haozi is not the only one nostalgic for the 1980s, with video clips of vintage toys receiving thousands of likes and comments on short video platform Douyin (TikTok). Most are fairly basic, like plastic balls or playing cards, but they hold special significance for the children who grew up in the 1980s and 1990s and experienced the country’s enormous changes. 　

Cao Yixia, a researcher at the Institute of Applied Economics, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, told NewsChina that the biggest consumers of chaowan are 15-35 years old and most are of the only child. China’s strict one-child policy was in place from 1978 to 2016. This cohort, compared to older generations, have stronger demand for companionship and are easily attracted to cute and unique things. 　

Now 30 years old and single, Haozi said he does not desire a relationship or marriage. 　

“So few people really have things in common... Maybe toys will be with me longer,” he told NewsChina.

Lin Xin’s teddy bear Biaobiao and the bear’s “girlfriend” propel Lin’s wedding ring to her on a remote-control car (Photo Courtesy of Interviewee)

One of Xiangxiang’s ball-jointed dolls poses next to a salad (Photo Courtesy of Interviewee)

Emo Kidults

Yang Yan in Beijing seldom thought about toys or games after she grew up – until a friend sent her a coloring book two years ago. She thought it was for kids until she opened it and found the patterns were much more complicated and appealing. 　

The coloring book was called Secret Garden which became popular among young Chinese people several years ago. It contains templates for different gardens full of blossoming flowers for people to decorate how they choose. Yang colored in one of the gardens and felt a great sense of release. She finished the whole book and had a strong sense of achievement. 　

“Some people may think it is just a waste of time, but when you’re painting, you’re totally immersed in your own world, your mind is emptied and the weight is lifted,” she told NewsChina. 　

Yang said she often uses coloring books to relax, especially as there are so many more available now, but she also likes doing puzzles, which produces a similar effect to coloring. “Fully focusing on something you like is indeed relaxing,” she said. 　

Miniso, a popular retail chain for low-priced lifestyle products aimed at younger shoppers, has leveraged the trend for chaowan toys and cute gifts for adults. 　

“More and more young people not only buy for the functional value of a product, but also for emotional value,” Liu Xiaobin, Miniso’s deputy CEO, told NewsChina. 　

Liu described chaowan as “beautiful useless things” which have no practical value but bring happiness. Miniso used to concentrate on daily use items like cosmetics and dinner ware. Since 2020, however, it has shifted its strategy toward IP toys and other goods, Liu said. 　

“Chaowan emerged from demand for self-healing and companionship, closely tied to today’s fast pace of life and increasing atomization,” the Shanghai researcher Cao told NewsChina. “Chaowan are a kind of psychological consumption in the form of real objects and they are also IP products that can comfort people,” he added. 　

Xue Qing agrees, telling NewsChina she needs her plush toy more than children. “My Peter Rabbit has given me very strong support and power, especially when I feel depressed about the outside world,” she said. 　

“Emotions don’t disappear as people grow up. They might have just been ignored in the past,” Juanzi said. 　

State-run newspaper the Global Times reported in 2024 that Japan’s toy industry has not been impacted by the country’s declining birthrate in the past two decades, but sales have risen among adult enthusiasts, citing an article from Yahoo News Japan. A 2023 survey by Japan’s Toy Magazine showed that 41 percent of the 14,000 adult respondents said they bought toys for themselves. 　

World-leading toy brands like Britain’s Jellycat, which sells soft toys and collectibles, and Denmark’s Lego have expanded products for adult consumers. Jellycat’s new series of fruit and food-themed dolls have attracted many young Chinese buyers despite the high prices, and Lego has launched more than 100 sets of adult-oriented block sets since 2020, media reported. 　

Data from Qichacha, a Chinese website that collates data about enterprise registrations, showed that China is now home to 22,300 chaowan enterprises, 9,115 of which were established in 2024, a 30.27 percent growth year-on-year. From the beginning of this year till now, more than 5,000 chaowan enterprises have newly registered.

Be Brats

Appearing in a 1985 report in UK newspaper The Times, the term “kidult” describes young adults with disposable income who are more willing to buy toys than older people with greater responsibilities. 　

The concept incentivized toy and game makers to design more products that cater to adults’ likes and emotions. This is why Pop Mart’s constant release of IP products is so lucrative and appealing, including the Labubu and Hirono series. 　

But Pop Mart is not the only one in the game. TNT Space, a mystery box brand established in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province in 2022, has launched a series of dolls and plushies under the lable Dora. Featuring a ferocious expression and wearing Y2K-style clothes, based on late 90s and early 2000s fashion, her bold style aims to celebrate boldness and individuality. 　

Pop Mart’s Hirono series is supposed to capture the spectrum of human emotions, including anxiety, rebellion and freedom. 　

In 2016, Chinese plush toy brand Wentongzi, also headquartered in Hangzhou, launched a rabbit doll called Striver. Distinguished by its slanted eyebrows and fierce expression, the rabbit represents how hard people strive, becoming extremely popular with young people. More recently, Wentongzi’s new product, a type of fish-demon plushie from a character in classic Chinese novel Journey to the West, once again went viral in chaowan circles. 　

Analysts term these unique images as “brats” or “ugly but adorable things” to distinguish them from traditional images of “good, pretty kids” that have nice features and seem as if they would be well-behaved. 　

According to Miniso’s Liu Xiaobin, the toys may be a psychological projection of its consumers. “Although they’re not living things, their expressions or styles may represent the consumers’ unique aesthetics or an emotional experience. As a [Chinese] saying goes, ‘It’s another me in the world,’” he said. 　

Pop Mart founder Wang Ning echoed, telling NewsChina that their popularity does not come from the mode of mystery boxes, but from catering to young people’s emotional demands and desire for self-expression. 　

“The popularity of ugly-yet-loveable chaowan indicates a deep rethinking of traditional aesthetics and it has broken the constraints of traditional, unvaried aesthetics. You will find that most of today’s popular chaowan do not convey an image of perfection, and some are even stranger,” Wang Jing, an associate professor at the School of Animation and Digital Arts, Communication University of China in Beijing, told NewsChina. 　

This desire for “brats” might be a universal desire for freedom, which is why so many adults like DreamWorks Studios’ Toothless, Disney’s Stitch and Pop Mart’s Labubu. 　

“It doesn’t mean that perfection is no longer in demand, but IPs like those seem a little bit far from real life. Young people now prefer a friend-like IP which is closer and even resembles them,” Cao told NewsChina.

Juanzi brings her Labubu dolls everywhere she goes and takes photos of them (Photo Courtesy of Interviewee)

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Healing the Inner Child