[Try This] White Rabbit Milk Tea Shop Draws Global Visitors to Nanjing Rd

Before her flight, a Saudi visitor stated that she had White Rabbit on her Shanghai bucket list.

She discovered the brand on TikTok, arrived at the milk tea store on Nanjing Road E., and rated her drink 9.5 out of 10.

"The drink is very creamy and nice," she said.

Since Shanghai Guan Sheng Yuan Food opened the brand's first permanent milk tea shop at 371 Nanjing Road E. on April 20, the store has been selling more than 500 cups a day. Drinks are priced between 18 and 24 yuan (US$2.65-US$3.3).

White Rabbit candy has been popular in Asia and beyond since 1959.

The soft milk sweets, wrapped in edible rice paper and sold in packaging bearing a blue, white, and red rabbit logo, have been exported to dozens of countries across Asia, Europe, and the Americas for decades.

The new store gives the brand its first permanent home in the freshly made tea market – the fastest-growing segment of China's food and beverage industry, which exceeded 360 billion yuan in 2025.

A Singaporean couple said they recognized the rabbit logo. "The milk tea brings back childhood memories," the husband said. "The flavor is similar to the candy in liquid form."

The store offers four drinks: a classic milk tea, a cheese-foam version, a peanut nougat-style tea, and a plum oolong tea, all made with fresh milk from Shanghai-based Bright Dairy.

A retail zone beside the beverage counter sells stuffed plush toys, retro mugs, and tin gift boxes.

Visitors come from as far away as the Philippines, South Korea, Malaysia, and the United States.

According to a traveler from Manila, White Rabbit candy has been a staple in Philippine grocery stores for generations. He bought durian, matcha, and wasabi candy varieties – flavors unavailable back home – to bring to his children and friends.

A Malaysian visitor gave the drink an 8 out of 10, noting it leaned sweet. "The good thing is that you can choose and change the sugar level here. You can really feel the fragrance of the tea," she said.

A South Korean tourist gave it a perfect 10 and said it outperformed popular Korean tea chains.

The permanent store follows a pop-up the brand ran in 2019, which drew queues lasting more than five hours.

Traditional Chinese food companies are trying to capture a share of the booming freshly made tea market as candy sales decline due to health awareness and sugar reduction. Legacy brands have had mixed results.

Beverage maker Wahaha opened its first tea store in Guangzhou in 2019, expanded to nearly 400, and closed in 2024.

In 2021, dairy producer Wandashan launched its Ruci Xinxian tea brand with a goal of 2,000 stores in five years. Its flagship Beijing store closed within 18 months, and the brand now has 30 stores, mostly in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province.

Wanglaoji herbal tea maker has 90 stores in southern China, compared to its 2021 goal of 3,000.

Analysts say many traditional brands view milk tea stores as marketing experiments rather than core businesses. They lack physical retail experience and struggle to retain customers after the novelty wears off.

White Rabbit faces stiff competition from established tea chains like Mixue Bingcheng, Guming, and Heytea, which operate thousands of stores and use automated supply chains and bulk purchasing to cut costs.

The Saudi tourist, for one, is already a convert.

"It was one of the top things I wanted to visit in Shanghai," she said.