Remember this?
Well, you probably do.
Having been the pinnacle of our childhood, this candy might not have been particularly tastebud-striking a few years back, but somehow nostalgia has made it one of the most sought-after candies in recent memory.
Or the Pokemon effect, as I like to call it.
But anyway, the White Rabbit candy had its 60th anniversary recently, and in celebration, a pop-up bubble tea store and merchandise store was set up in LuOne mall in Shanghai.
And the selections are certainly decent too, with offerings such as White Rabbit Milk Tea and White Rabbit Tiramisu Milk Tea.
But there’s just one thing about it.
There’s reportedly a four-hour queue for the drinks, and according to some patrons…
It doesn’t even taste like White Rabbit candy.
White Rabbit Bubble Tea is Now a Thing in China With 4-Hour Queue
The pop-up bubble tea store and merchandise store, for one, definitely seems interesting.
Apart from White Rabbit-infused Milk Teas, the store, that was set up in LuOne Mall in Shanghai, promised quite a lot of intriguing stuff as well.
Cushions, tote bags, lip balms, shower creams, scent diffusers… you name it they probably have it.
But of course, you probably still came for the beverages, and here’s a little breakdown:
Held in conjunction with the Chinese bubble tea chain Happy Lemon, the collaboration between White Rabbit and Bubble Tea gave birth to six special flavours:
- Lemon Tea (S$3.75)
- Lemon Tea with Ice Cream (S$4.94)
- Milk Tea (S$3.75)
- Milk Tea with Crystal Pearls (S$4.35)
- Tiramisu Milk Tea (S$4.15)
- Tiramisu Red Bean Milk Tea (S$4.54)
Also, additional toppings are available as well, including the likes of red bean (S$0.40), crystal pearls (S$0.59) and ice cream (S$1.19).
And with adorable cup holders that had the White Rabbit logo packaged with drinks, you don’t have to be a sleuth to know it:
It’s gonna be popular.
But this popular? Oh my tian
Just to clarify, the pop-up bubble tea store is open for a period of around three months, from 29 May to 18 August.
Yet, despite the ample time for everyone to at least get an acquired taste, fans in China seemed to have pulled a leaf from our own locals’ kiasu book…
And formed snaking queues from the second day of the pop-up store’s opening itself.
“Wow, wait, just how long do they have to queue for a damn cup then?” you ask.
In response I say just two words:
“Four hours.”
And the inevitable happened
Back when Avengers: Endgame was first released on local shores, money-makers saw an opportunity. Snapping up tickets with all the thirst of an NSMan who has been in confinement for two weeks, they then jacked up the price and hoped that desperate fans will take up their offer.
And it seems that over in China, things don’t exactly work differently. According to Mothership, re-sellers were allegedly pushing out the drinks at anywhere from 70 yuan (S$13.83) to 100 yuan (S$19.79), which is four to five times the original price for your information.
In fact, apparently, the highest price tag that exists so far is 168 yuan (S$33.20) for a cup of Tiramisu Red Bean Milk Tea on the food delivery app Ele.me.
S$33.20 for a cup of milk tea? Where are the cops when you need them?
And to make things worse?
The drinks allegedly don’t even taste like White Rabbit candy.
In a recent interview, Chinese news site The Paper asked two university students who went down to the pop-up store for some drinks. And apparently…
The drinks just taste like normal milk tea.
According to the report, one of the students mentioned that the drinks tasted like normal milk tea, and there wasn’t the White Rabbit candy flavour they expected.
As for the other student, the lemon tea flavoured drink tasted just like how you’ll expect:
Other lemon teas you have drunk before.
And before you start defending the drink and slamming these two students in question, there are actually other users on Weibo who concur with the notion.
Rough translation:
“When I heard the official White Rabbit Ice Cream was here, I rushed down! The scalpers have raised the price so much, it’s already at 100 yuan a cup! Flavour-wise, I think it wasn’t too good. I can’t taste the White Rabbit candy flavour – it’s just like the usual Happy Lemon flavour. Friends who also went down, what do you think?”
But it’s not all bad
Perhaps it’s the whole half-full or half-empty thing, but there were some Netizens who chose to look on the bright side of it all.
Rough translation: “Only because it’s the White Rabbit candy, I queued up a whole four hours for this milk tea! I went through much trouble – I’m gonna give myself a pat on the back for my admirable spirit just this once. What I drank is not milk tea, but a cup of love!”
And some contented themselves with the pretty packaging.
Though to be fair, it does indeed look pretty aesthetic.
Instagrammers alert?
But hey, to that end I still haven’t asked the all-important question:
Would you brave a four-hour long queue to satisfy your nostalgia?
If you watch at least 10 minutes of brain rot content daily, you must know this:
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