Yuyuan Lantern Festival puts Shanghai in festival mood

"Twinkle Twinkle is so cute! Their eyes are tiny and lovely, and I do love them very much," said Tian.

"They are so popular now and it is often very hard to get one. So I'm very happy to get one here today!"

While Tian rushes to check out the Twinkle Twinkle lantern installation, Frans-Jan van Meer, a 50-year-old from the Netherlands, is busy bagging some figures for his kids at the store.

Making his first visit on business to China, van Meer has been exploring the city with city walks since arrival. It is a coincidence for him to reach the center and come across the pop-up store, where he recognized the iconic character Labubu.

"It (Pop Mart) has also been in Europe and my daughter has one (Labubu) at home. When I saw the pop-up store, I said I had to buy something for my kids," said Meer with a smile.

Meer has two daughters, ages 10 and 5, both are Pop Mart fans. He bought two blind boxes for them each, one Labubu and the other one from the new Golden Gallop series figures.

"I like the new series. It is more Chinese and exotic for me, as we would not make it like this in Europe … I walk around here and I think I should be here with my kids. It is clean, modern and nicely decorated with lanterns, the skyline and everything. It is really amazing," he added, saying he hoped to bring his kids next time thanks to China's "convenient and helpful" visa-free policy.