Chinese ice cream and beverage chain Mixue Bingcheng is building a merchandise business around its snowman mascot as it tries to stand out in the country’s crowded market.
Typical Mixue shops are small and sell ice cream and teas. But the store in a bustling Guangzhou neighborhood that opened last December offers beverages and food on the first floor, and a second floor dedicated to merchandise for its Snow King character.
Snow King blind boxes have become a hit with younger shoppers. Each box’s contents are a mystery until opened.
Blind boxes fueled the rise of Pop Mart’s Labubu character, another example of a recent drive in China to develop homegrown content.
Mixue began as a small beverage shop opened in 1997 by founder Zhang Hongchao and adopted its current brand name in 1999. The company’s mainstay soft serve ice cream and drinks are affordably priced at RMB 2–8 (USD 0.3–1.2), making them popular with students and families.
The red-caped Snow King was introduced in 2018. The character stars in an animated series released in 2023 in which he makes friends as he flies around.
Since 2025, large Mixue stores selling Snow King merchandise have opened across China, including Guangzhou, Zhengzhou in Henan, and Chongqing.
Snow King puts a face to the brand and deepens emotional connections with consumers, the company says. When Mixue listed in Hong Kong in March 2025, it announced plans to invest HKD 395 million (USD 50.5 million), representing 12% of the funds it planned to raise, into IP-related businesses.
Snow King merchandise can sell for more RMB 20 (USD 2.9), potentially increasing average customer spending. Few of Mixue’s rivals have their own mascots.
China was home to about 660,000 beverage stores in 2023. While Mixue had the top market share that year, its lead is not secure. Mixue stores at home and abroad increased roughly 30% in 2025 to 59,800, but the number of closures rose about 60% to around 2,500, in a sign of the fierce competition the chain faces.
This article first appeared on Nikkei Asia. It has been republished here as part of 36Kr’s ongoing partnership with Nikkei.
Note: HKD, RMB figures are converted to USD at rates of HKD 7.83 = USD 1 and RMB 6.81 = USD 1 based on estimates as of May 13, 2026, unless otherwise stated. USD conversions are presented for ease of reference and may not fully match prevailing exchange rates.