---
title: "Korean Tourists Visit Chinese Supermarket, Yet Choose Oreo, Lay's, and Pocky?"
description: "A RT-Mart in Shanghai's Jing'an District has become a hotspot for Korean tourists, who are drawn by its tax refund service and unique product offerings. Despite the availability of global brands like Oreo and Lay's in Korea, these tourists purchase them for their exclusive Chinese flavors, along with local specialties like White Rabbit candy and tea, driven by novelty and value."
author: "FBIF"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2026-02-22"
categories: "Retail Formats"
language: "en"
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original_source: "https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/9U05xxN2klsEwWahqxRcoA"
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citation: "FBIF. “Korean Tourists Visit Chinese Supermarket, Yet Choose Oreo, Lay's, and Pocky?.” New Distribution, 2026-02-22. https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/korean-tourists-visit-chinese-supermarket-yet-choose-oreo-lay-s-and-pock-bbe71b85/"
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---

# Korean Tourists Visit Chinese Supermarket, Yet Choose Oreo, Lay's, and Pocky?

> A RT-Mart in Shanghai's Jing'an District has become a hotspot for Korean tourists, who are drawn by its tax refund service and unique product offerings. Despite the availability of global brands like Oreo and Lay's in Korea, these tourists purchase them for their exclusive Chinese flavors, along with local specialties like White Rabbit candy and tea, driven by novelty and value.

On Pingxingguan Road in Shanghai's Jing'an District, a RT-Mart is experiencing its 'glorious moment' since opening—because more and more Korean tourists are making special trips to shop there, and it has appeared in increasing news reports.
Staff at Gaoxin Retail, RT-Mart's parent company, stated that the Pingxingguan RT-Mart receives an average of 200-300 Korean tourists daily, reaching 500 on weekend peaks.[1]
Pingxingguan Road RT-Mart
Image source: Shanghai Jing'an
As the first supermarket in Shanghai to offer the 'instant tax refund' service for departure tax rebates, the Pingxingguan Road RT-Mart occasionally hears Korean conversations among the shelves, tourists queueing at checkout with passports, bilingual Chinese-Korean advertising on shelves, and even a dedicated checkout lane for Korean tourists.[1]
On Naver, South Korea's largest search engine, the Pingxingguan Road RT-Mart has become one of the shopping spots for Korean consumers traveling to Shanghai. Many Korean travel bloggers have shared their experiences buying snacks and souvenirs at this supermarket, attracting more Korean consumers to shop there.
The Pingxingguan Road RT-Mart even prepared a Korean-language 'Popular Products (인기 상품)' guide for Korean tourists. This Korean introduction includes not only Chinese specialties like White Rabbit candy and flower tea, but also brands available in Korea such as Lay's, Oreo, and Pocky, and even easily available items like macadamia nuts and egg rolls.
Pingxingguan Road RT-Mart
Image source: Shanghai Jing'an
### Korean Tourists at Chinese Supermarkets
### Buy Lay's, Oreo, and Pocky
Many Korean consumers coming to China buy Chinese brand snacks.
On this list, White Rabbit candy, flower tea bags, and Haidilao hot pot base are all included. But besides these, there are also Oreo cookies, Lay's potato chips, and Pocky...
Seeing these familiar products on the list, some netizens ask: Korean friends, don't you have these things at the supermarket downstairs?
RT-Mart's Korean popular products promotion
Image source: Xiaohongshu
Faced with this somewhat unexpected list, we went to Naver to find answers.
On January 23, 2025, a Korean travel blogger posted an article titled '중국상해여행 shanghai [따룬파] 상하이가볼만한곳 기념품 여행선물 대형마트' (China Shanghai Travel: Worth Visiting Souvenir Travel Gift Large Supermarket). This popular post with 327 likes introduced the Pingxingguan Road RT-Mart in Shanghai, and the blogger shared her reasons for choosing Lay's chips and Oreo cookies.
First, the variety of Lay's chip flavors differs from Korean local chips. The blogger expressed shock at the diversity of Lay's flavors, saying: 'The variety is really rich. I look around, turn my head (and still see chips).'[2]
Seeing the wasabi octopus flavor, she laughed so hard she lost control of typing—'Wow octopus ᄏᄏᄏᄏᄏᄏᄏᄏ'; seeing the avocado flavor, she couldn't help but wonder if it pairs well with chips: 'Avocado flavor?'; seeing the spicy crayfish flavor, she even asked a soul-searching question: 'How can crayfish appear here?' Later, she exclaimed she was 'startled.'[2]
In the comments section of this post, Korean netizens shared similar sentiments, saying they also went on supermarket sprees in Shanghai: 'Chips and snacks lined up like this, so colorful, it's adorable haha.'[2]
Korean blogger introducing Lay's chips
Image source: blog.naver
China-exclusive flavors are not only found in Lay's but also in Oreo.
Another Korean blogger with the ID 노리로 showcased 'Oreos that can only be bought in China' in her post, featuring taro, green tea, peach, fig, and strawberry flavors that piqued her curiosity, and she photographed each one. 노리로 also compared the taste of Chinese Oreos with Korean ones: 'Some think Chinese Oreos are less sweet, so they feel lighter. I rather think it's the difference in thickness that makes Chinese Oreos feel lighter.'[3]
Besides the rich flavors, Oreo products also come in more diverse forms, including gift boxes suitable for giving. Blogger 햄토르 said: 'You can eat five flavors of Oreo at once, which is only about 4,300 Korean won (on Korea's Lotte e-commerce platform, 100g of original Oreo cookies sells for 1,580 won). The portion is large, and there are flavors not available in Korea. I bought a lot; I think it's a perfect souvenir.'[2]
Korean blogger introducing Oreo
Image source: blog.naver
Blogger 노리로 also mentioned another snack on the 'popular list'—Glico's chocolate biscuit Pocky and Pocky.
노리로 called Pocky an unexpected snack. She said that compared to Japanese Pocky, Chinese Pocky has more limited flavors, and the variety and capacity are very rich, making it suitable as a gift.[3]
The brands are familiar, but the flavors are unfamiliar. This 'safe adventure' makes Oreo, Lay's, and Pocky foolproof souvenirs.
Korean blogger introducing Pocky
Image source: blog.naver
### 'Chinese Products' Chosen by Korean Tourists:
### White Rabbit, Tea Bags
Apart from these familiar yet unfamiliar regional exclusives of global brands, another category of products that sold out are those with strong tourist destination characteristics.
White Rabbit candy itself is one of Shanghai's representative specialties. Therefore, at the Pingxingguan RT-Mart visited by Korean tourists, White Rabbit products are also on the 'popular products' poster, as it is a classic Chinese candy in the eyes of Korean consumers. Haidilao's hot pot base and sauces have also become representatives of this wave of Chinese flavor, being taken home by Korean consumers.
Meanwhile, on Naver blogs, many bloggers say that when going to China, you must buy tea and alcohol, as these Chinese specialties are affordable and of good quality. Even on the travel platform Trip's China shopping guide, tea ranks first, with the platform introducing: 'As the birthplace of tea, China has many types of tea, including green tea, oolong tea, Pu'er tea, jasmine tea, etc... They are popular as gifts or souvenirs.'
Ultimately, such products also appeared on RT-Mart's 'popular products' list—Nescafé tea and coffee, and flower tea bags. These products can not only be packaged as part of 'Chinese tea culture,' but are also lightweight, palate-friendly, and have no learning cost. One Korean consumer said in a blog that fragrant jasmine tea was her favorite product from her shopping in China.
Korean blogger's tea product recommendations
Image source: blog.naver
The cilantro noodles that Chinese consumers love are also being bought by Korean consumers.
Data from the World Instant Noodles Association shows that South Korea's per capita instant noodle consumption ranked first in the world from 2013 to 2020, with Koreans eating an average of 73 packs (cups) per person in 2021 alone.[4]
Because of their deep love for instant noodles, Korean consumers also didn't miss the cilantro noodles that once became popular in China.
This product may have entered Korean tourists' shopping carts for two reasons: first, it is sufficiently different from Korean instant noodles, with the cilantro and green noodles being eye-catching; second, the cilantro noodle packaging contains no meat, meeting the requirements for Korean consumers to bring it back through customs, making it a specialty product chosen by Korean consumers.
Baixiang cilantro instant noodles
Image source: Baixiang
### Half-Price Nuts, Discounted Egg Rolls:
### Korean Tourists Also Care About Value for Money
Guolifang, on the other hand, is a popular product that was bought up by Korean tourists and even brought back to the domestic market in reverse.
Guolifang is a product with a certain foundation in Korea, somewhat like 'export to domestic sales.' Guolifang entered the Korean market in 2021. Because of its low alcohol content, soft and refreshing taste, and rich flavor, it suits the palate of young Korean consumers and has been loved by the Korean MZ generation (a collective term for Millennials and Generation Z).[6]
In the popular blog post mentioned above, Guolifang was also the most discussed and recommended product in the comments section by Korean netizens.
Guolifang
Image source: Guolifang
Sunflower seeds, similar to Guolifang, entered the Korean market earlier but are still not very common in Korea. After Korean consumers entered Chinese supermarkets, these semi-familiar food and beverage items also made it onto their shopping lists. Korean actress Joo A-yeon opened an account on Xiaohongshu and shared her Shanghai travel shopping list, which included a lot of sunflower seeds.
In her Xiaohongshu post, Joo A-yeon said: 'Sunflower seeds are also sold in Korea, but they're not very common. I found it quite fun to crack sunflower seeds while watching TV.'
Products with a large price difference between the two countries have been welcomed by consumers.
Apart from the 'popular products' displayed by RT-Mart, Joo A-yeon's list also included sesame. Joo A-yeon explained that sesame in Korea costs 150 yuan per kilogram, but 10 kilograms of sesame in China only costs 220 yuan, which was a pleasant surprise for her.
Korean actress Joo A-yeon's Shanghai shopping list
Image source: Xiaohongshu
Three Squirrels macadamia nuts are also a product discovered by Korean tourists.
Some Korean tourists found that its price in China is almost half of that in Korea. This information was quickly made into a video and posted on Naver, becoming 'shopping intelligence' visible to Korean netizens. As a result, dried fruit snacks with large price differences also entered Koreans' shopping carts, with each Korean tourist basically buying 'at least three bags.'[1]
Little Yellow Duck egg rolls are also such a product, and they are one of the recommended snacks by Korean bloggers. A bag of egg yolk egg rolls sells for 15.8 yuan. In comparison, a small box of Samcheong-dong egg rolls, a Korean specialty, costs 6,000 won (about 28.39 yuan), nearly double the price of Little Yellow Duck egg rolls.
The manager of the Pingxingguan RT-Mart previously said in a media interview that Korean consumers' snack preferences are quite uniform: Three Squirrels macadamia nuts and Little Yellow Duck egg rolls are bought at least three bags per person, and they also like to buy Oreo cookies and cilantro-flavored instant noodles.[7]
Koreans reverse-promote Little Yellow Duck egg rolls
Image source: Xiaohongshu
Novel flavors, limited gift boxes, and high cost-performance can all be reasons for Korean consumers to buy.
But this approach may only work in 'tourism scenarios.'
Tourists' shopping baskets are essentially different in purpose from daily food and beverage consumption. What Korean consumers buy in Shanghai is proof of 'I have been to China.' They are buying experiences, tax refunds, price differences, and travel souvenirs.
References:
[1] Wu Weiling, 'Korean Tourists 'Sweep' RT-Mart; Retail Supermarkets Leverage Departure Tax Refunds to Layout 'Extension of Duty-Free Shops',' January 8, 2026, Cailianshe
[2] 햄토르, '중국상해여행 shanghai [따룬파] 상하이가볼만한곳 기념품 여행선물 대형마트,' January 23, 2025, blog.naver
[3] 노리로, '중국 마트 과자 쇼핑 의외로 빼빼로에 진심인 나라 오레오 포키,' March 21, 2025, blog.naver
[4] 'Why Do Koreans Love Instant Noodles?,' June 15, 2023, Chihuo Research Institute
[5] 'Koreans Drank an Average of 8.5 Days per Month in 2021,' March 7, 2022, Yonhap News
[6] '무비자여행 한중교류 달콤한 매개체 강소백 과실주 '과립방',' June 20, 2025, Nate
[7] 'A RT-Mart in Shanghai Becomes a 'Treasure Check-in Spot' for Korean Tourists; Store: Average Over 200 Korean Customers Per Day, They Like to Buy Macadamia Nuts, Jiangxiaobai, and Cilantro-Flavored Instant Noodles,' January 6, 2026, Jimu News
**【Moving Toward the C-End】The 11th China FMCG Conference**
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**Location: Chengdu, China**


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## Citation metadata

- Publisher: New Distribution
- Author: FBIF
- Published: 2026-02-22
- Canonical: https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/korean-tourists-visit-chinese-supermarket-yet-choose-oreo-lay-s-and-pock-bbe71b85/
- Original source: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/9U05xxN2klsEwWahqxRcoA

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