Stella Huang bought her first Jellycat plush toy in 2021, after losing her job during the pandemic.
A school friend in Guangzhou—already a fan of the British brand—had told her about them, but it was a photo of a gingerbread house plushie on the Chinese social media app RedNote that made her fall in love.
“Christmas doesn’t mean a lot to me,” Stella admits. “But I’ve always loved the sight of gingerbread houses.” She asked her friend back home to buy it for her.
That purchase came at a moment of deep uncertainty. “Everyone felt jittery, and no one knew what would happen,” she recalls. Living through some of Beijing’s strictest lockdowns, Stella developed a habit of petting and squeezing her plushies for comfort during long, isolated days at home.
Now 32 and working as a sales manager in tourism, Stella is still collecting. Her assortment has grown to 120 Jellycats, worth about 36,000 yuan ($5,145).
“At my age, there are many things you can’t share with others,” she says with a sigh. “The troubles we face are a lot more complicated than before. The plushies help me regulate my emotions.”
Originally designed for children, Jellycat’s soft, quirky toys have become a global phenomenon. In China, they have found a particularly devoted audience among a generation of young adults seeking comfort, connection, and a touch of whimsy in uncertain times.
By James Kisoo
