Stepping into the spotlight

Lila, also known as Xingyue in China, is a US influencer with millions of followers on Chinese social media. She visited the idol experience center out of curiosity and observed a unique aspect of East Asian culture: many people adore idols in very detailed ways — watching all their variety shows and livestreams, buying merchandise, and even changing their phone wallpapers to images of their idols.

However, Lila found that visiting the center serves a different purpose than idol worship — while idol worship is focused on supporting idols, the center is more about enjoying the broader idol culture and aesthetics, offering individuals the opportunity to indulge in a personal dream.

"Girl group members are often seen as perfect beings, almost unattainable," she said. "Realistically, I can't debut as an idol in South Korea, but here, the makeup artists do their best to transform me into an idol look, allowing me to imagine myself in that position. It's a fascinating fantasy."

Stars in motion

This fantasy-creating economy is thriving.

Shortly after Chen's idol experience center opened last year, many people, unaware of the concept, often mistook photos of customers for those of real idols.

Chen recalls that at first, there weren't many visitors, but once customer photos started circulating on social media, people began to comment, "It really looks the part", "It's very interesting", and "I was successfully fooled", which led to a surge in foot traffic.

Since the beginning of this year, influencers with millions of followers have been visiting the center almost daily. To provide a high-quality experience for guests, Chen introduced an appointment system through a WeChat mini-program, limiting the number of visitors to eight per hour.

After the success of Chen's center in Shanghai, similar venues have appeared in cities like Beijing, Chongqing, and Wuhan in recent months.

Netizens have jokingly said that Chen has single-handedly created a new business niche. "Initially, I was frustrated seeing so many imitation stores popping up," Chen said. "But later, I realized that if this sparks entrepreneurial ideas for others, I'm happy about it."

To raise the bar for imitators and further explore the concept of "experiencing idol life", Chen plans to upgrade the photo-focused venue into a comprehensive idol culture experience community.

She has rented nearly 700 square meters of space next to the original venue, intending to add more entertainment elements, including a stage for formal performances. This will allow guests to film performance videos or rent the space for underground idol performances. The venue will also feature interactive areas at the entrance, and Chen plans to invite vloggers and influencers to serve as "one-day managers", engaging directly with customers.

Her ultimate goal is to attract the attention of South Korean idol entertainment companies, hoping they will see this emerging Chinese business model as a potential channel for selecting idol trainees.

"Many of our customers have the talent to become idols, with impressive singing and dancing skills. This could really help them," Chen said.

guiqian@i21st.cn