K-pop fans in China live like their idols, just for a day

In a studio tucked inside a Shanghai mall, Shirley Chen is living out her K-pop idol dreams.

The 28-year-old is at Chen Go, a K-pop-inspired "idol experience centre", where customers get a chance to live like their favorite stars, if only for a day.

Opened last year by entrepreneur Chen Rong, the centre attracts about 40 customers daily who dance choreographed routines and pretend to sign autographs for imagined fans at a mock meet-and-greet.

Guests can choose from more than 200 outfits — some imported from South Korea, others custom-made — and step into carefully designed sets designed to resemble backstage dressing rooms and South Korean music programs.

Visitors fix their hair in front of a mirror while wearing costumes at Chen Go, an "idol experience center" where fans dress up as K-Pop idols, in Shanghai, China, April 5, 2025. reuters

A full package, including the outfit, shoes, hair, and makeup, set visitors back 329 yuan ($45.01).

"This place is great because they prepared a lot of backgrounds, you can change clothes, put together some videos by yourself, and accomplish your dreams of being an idol," said Chen, who travelled from Ningbo, south of Shanghai, to celebrate her upcoming birthday at Chen Go.

"When I was a child, I liked to dance. So you could say that I wanted to develop on a similar (idol) path. However, as I got older, my parents wanted me to do something that could make money. So they kind of killed my childhood dreams in the cradle."

The two Chens are unrelated.

The entrance of Chen Go is pictured, where visitors dress up as K-Pop idols, in Shanghai, China, April 5, 2025.reuters

Founder Chen Rong is a K-pop fan too and her original plan was to open a photo studio mimicking an idyllic classroom with blackboards and desks, a nod to popular Korean reality TV shows where idols dress like high school students.

"Then I made a meet and greet set-up, and later the backstage set-up. After expanding in this way, I thought that all of my set-ups are related to the idol topic, so I can directly open an all-in-one idol experience centre,” she said.

The studio, which also attracts tourists from Russia, Japan, and South Korea, is undergoing an expansion and will double in size by next month. Among other plans, Chen said she will start featuring social-media influencers as guest emcees and building a stage with a projector. ($1=7.31 yuan)