Woman from China feels like she's 'still at home' after seeing so many Chinese brands in Singapore

The New Paper
September 19, 2023

She travelled some 7,000km from Dalian, China, to Singapore – only to find that her surroundings were oh so similar.

A woman from Dalian couldn't help but feel “still at home” when she came here on holiday recently, referencing the preponderance of retail brands and food outlets found in and around the Lion City that originated from China.

Her video on social media platform Xiaohongshu highlighted prominent retail brands she came across, mainly from the food and beverage sector, such as Haidilao, Mixue, and Juewei, as well as lifestyle product brands Yishion and Miniso.

Not that she was complaining about it; in fact, her video shows her patronising many of the above mentioned businesses.

In the comments section, she pointed out that the Mixue mascot regularly "goes crazy daily" in Paya Lebar, whatever that means. 

The presence of these brands does not come as a surprise, given that Singapore over the years has become a “launchpad” for several China-based firms.

In recent years, China's tech giants, such as Alibaba, Tencent and ByteDance, the parent firm of TikTok, have set up regional offices in Singapore.