by Qin Mingwei, Li Weizhen

NEW YORK, June 25 (Xinhua) -- The fluffy figurine Labubu, launched by Chinese brand Pop Mart, has sparked a craze in New York, bringing consumers with surprise and joy and underscoring the creativity of Chinese culture.

From Staten Island to the World Trade Center and Flushing, long queues have formed outside multiple Pop Mart stores, and online purchasing channels are also experiencing a surge.

In 2024, Labubu contributed nearly 400 million U.S. dollars in revenue to Pop Mart. The company's total revenue for 2024 totaled 1.8 billion dollars, an increase of 107 percent over the previous year.

Online searches for Labubu have skyrocketed tenfold since February, according to Google Trends data. On U.S. online selling platform eBay, there are over 19,000 Labubu products.

"500 to 700 people come in here every day... very hectic, busy until from opening until close, nonstop," Olivia, a staff at Pop Mart's World Trade Center store in New York City, told Xinhua recently.

Some visitors even come to New York from other states specifically for Labubu, said Olivia.

Karla, who works at the World Trade Center, is a loyal fan of blind boxes and owns more than fifty Pop Mart products.

"When I come to Pop Mart, it's always like a little sweet treat... it's like 20 or 40 times I come," Karla told Xinhua while waiting in line outside the store.

The difference between Chinese blind box toy brands like Pop Mart and many American brands, such as Disney, is that they incorporate rich Chinese culture, said Karla.

"It's really fun... I really get myself immersed into this culture," said Karla.

Chen Yi, a Chinese cultural and creative designer based in New York, has a similar view, saying that Chinese brands are using traditional culture and creative design to open up overseas markets.

Chen works as a designer for StarryHouse, a Chinese creative brand based in New York, which draws inspiration from Chinese paper-cutting art and has published several pop-up books with traditional Chinese cultural elements, such as the well-known Mawangdui archaeological site, Chongqing landmark scenes, and Chinatown of New York City.

"We are seeing more and more Chinese brands using traditional culture as a selling point to attract American consumers," said Chen.

"Trendy toys are becoming a calling card for Chinese culture, permeating every corner of the United States," Chen added.

Chinese trend toys like Labubu, with their blind box surprise and collectible value, are especially appealing to a wide range of young people, said Chen.

Ding Siyu, an intern designer at StarryHouse, said that more of her friends are falling in love with and joining the traditional cultural creative design industry like her.

"China's trendy toys are constantly coming up with new designs, such as the popular national trend style, which captures the hearts of young people," Ding told Xinhua.

"From product planning to user interface and experience design, I see many of my young friends joining the Chinese cultural and creative design industry from various fields," Ding added.

Starting from traditional culture and drawing on the creativity of a broad young demographic, Chinese cultural and creative products are bolstering the improvement of the country's cultural image.

According to data analyzing the favourable attitudes of citizens in 41 countries toward China and the United States, China's soft power has grown rapidly, according to the report released by Morning Consult, an American business intelligence company, in May.