A new trend emerged during the May Day holiday, with a significant number of foreign tourists engaging in an unusual shopping spree – buying toys!

According to IT Times, this craze has turned several Chinese commercial districts into toy-buying hotspots, with many foreigners lining up early to purchase popular Chinese toys.

The Nanjing Road Pedestrian Mall has earned the nickname "China's Akihabara" due to its high concentration of toy and anime stores, including Pop Mart, Miniso and its subsidiary, TOP TOY.

By May 3, Shanghai welcomed 2.1447 million visitors.

Pop Mart has emerged as a must-visit attraction for international tourists. The popular character Labubu sold out during the holiday season. The global launch of Pop Mart's third-generation Qiangfang Gaoneng series on April 24 led to long lines at locations in Los Angeles, London, Milan and Harajuku.

The following day, Pop Mart's app reached the top of the shopping chart in the US App Store for the first time. Celebrities like Rihanna and Cate Blanchett were seen carrying Pop Mart products, further elevating the brand's popularity.

Foreign tourists packed a card shop in the Bailian ZX Creative Center. The Japanese anime store next door claimed that international buyers walked away with "Nezha" and "Dragon Ball" products.

A surge in foreign tourist shopping in China is driven by favorable policies, such as 240-hour visa-free transit and instant tax refunds, and the global popularity of Chinese toys and anime merchandise. Many visitors headed to hubs like the Yiwu Small Commodities Market to buy directly from the source.

According to the Consumer Market Big Data Lab (Shanghai), spending by overseas visitors in Shanghai during the holiday touched 455 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 211.6 percent. Shanghai's tax-free sales to foreign tourists more than doubled, and tax refunds rose by 1.3 times.

International visitors also lapped up a wide range of Chinese goods. Alipay+ data showed top cross-border spending occurred in Guangdong, Zhejiang, Xinjiang, Fujian, Jiangsu, Sichuan, Hunan and Shandong provinces and in Beijing.

In Shanghai, the hotspots were Nanjing Road, Yuyuan and Shanghai Tower.

Tourists also embraced Chinese cuisine, public transit and the ease of mobile payments. Alipay's "Tap!" feature allows seamless transactions, from ordering meals to unlocking bikes, making travel more convenient than ever.