Costco Shanghai Serves As A ‘Prop’ For Influencers In China To Pretend They Are In LA

Well, everything on the internet is not always as it seems on the surface area. 

In 2019, the first-ever Costco in China opened up in Shanghai and it was flooded with so many people that it was closed in a few hours, reported CNBC. If you do not know what Costco is, it is basically a hypermarket where you buy things in bulk and usually, at a discount. Just like how it is in NSK. 

On the Chinese app Xiaohongshu which doubles as an eCommerce app and a photosharing app, influencers have flocked to the only Costco in China to take a few photos. We’re unsure if they went for the discounts as well. 

The influencers have explicitly stated that they were at Shanghai’s Costco which they think looks very much alike to the Costcos in LA and shared some photo-taking tips on how to maximise that point.

One user by the name of Ayukyo wrote that the warehouse setting against the blue sky really looks like LA. If anyone would like to take those LA-esque photos, then going there while wearing bright coloured clothes at about 4pm or at night would be good.

Another user named MissMistake has shared several locations (the lawn outside the parking lot, the car repair shop next door and the imported food aisle) and photo ideas for people to take pictures such as pushing a shopping cart, posing in it and buying a pizza and a soda to add to the ‘feel’.

This sharing has led to quite a few people on Weibo (the main social media platform for China) trashing the women for painting America as a desirable place to go to. In typical toxic netizen fashion, they started calling the women unsavoury names.

We would definitely like it if a Costco opens up in Malaysia but we’re not sure if we would like to take LA-esque pictures. What are your thoughts on this? Let us know in the comments! 

Also read: Man In China Tries To Pay For Meal With Insta ‘Fame’ Of 217 Followers