A stuffed ape is currently the most popular toy in China. Those who make posts about it on social media are making jabs — self-aware and humorous — at the government’s request for young adults to have more children.
China’s birth rate is falling precipitously as young adults delay traditional life milestones like marriage and baby-making. But it turns out that parenthood is still appealing to them — just not in its traditional form. On Xiaohongshu, the preferred social media app of Chinese millennials and Gen Z, an obscure subculture surrounding a monkey plushie has gone from niche to mainstream in recent weeks, with owners of the toy playing mom and dad to the stuffed animal.
The subject of this online fandom is a cuddly orangutan sold by IKEA, the popular low-cost Swedish furniture retailer that currently has 37 stores across China. As part of IKEA’s soft toy collection called Djungelskog — meaning “jungle forest” in Swedish — the 26-inch, friendly-faced ape is categorized as a product for kids that can hang on one’s hip or back, “just like how real apes climb and hang in the rainforest trees,” according to IKEA’s website