The Spectacular Launch of LABUBU's 10th Anniversary Touring Exhibition in Shanghai and the Premiere of Unpublished Manuscripts

01 | I Rushed to the Bund Just to See the "Toothless Little Monster" First

Right after work on Friday, I grabbed my bag and jumped on the subway line 2 from Jing'an Temple, got off at East Nanjing Road station, and ran all the way to the Rock Bund Source Zhong'an Meifeng Building. There was a 3-meter tall LABUBU balloon at the entrance, surrounded by people, its toothless smile looking kind of therapeutic under the night lights of Huangpu. While scrolling through Xiaohongshu, I saw someone queued up at 3 PM; I arrived at 7:30 PM and had about 80 people ahead of me, the line curled around Yuanmingyuan Street and turned onto Beijing East Road, but we moved pretty fast—I was up by 8:05 PM. The security guy reminded me, "The exhibition is free and no reservations needed, but only 30 people can enter the manuscript area at a time." As soon as I heard that, I dashed to the left side on the first floor to grab a spot in the manuscript area first.

The manuscript area was smaller than I imagined, just a narrow path for two people to walk side by side, with original drafts by Kasing Lung displayed on the walls from 2014 to 2024: the first pencil sketches of LABUBU, the earliest watercolor designs of THE MONSTERS, and even a never-released “Mechanical Labubu” concept art—with gears on its head and a spring for a tail, next to it was written “Not mass-produced, prototype only”. I tiptoed to see for three minutes, and a girl behind me whispered, “Can you crouch down? My phone can’t focus.” So, I squatted to finish looking, my phone lens perfectly avoided the reflective glass, so my shots turned out great.

02 | The Decade Review Wall, I Shot the Timeline in Burst Mode

Once out of the manuscript area, I hit the circular timeline, which split the 10 years into 10 sections, each 1 meter wide, with the years indicated on the floor. Above, hanging were iconic pieces from each year: the classic white-skinned Labubu from 2014, the hidden Halloween release from 2017, and the “Fortune” series from 2020… I walked and snapped photos, set my camera to burst mode, taking one shot after another, once I got home, I stitched them into a GIF; the likes on Xiaohongshu came in faster than the night view of the Bund.

03 | Immersive Room, Don’t Wear a Skirt!

The innermost black box room was the real “immersive” experience: all four walls were mirrors, and the floor had elastic fabric, which felt like a trampoline. They projected LABUBU’s expressions that were 2 meters wide onto the ceiling, with its toothless smile and blinking on a loop. I wore wide-leg pants to enter, and the fabric was slippery, almost did the splits; there was a girl in front of me in a short skirt who didn’t dare to crouch down for photos, so the girls suggested shorts or pants to sit cross-legged in the middle for a great “surrounded by monsters” overhead shot.

04 | Limited Pop-Up Shop, I Queued Twice

The exit led to a pop-up shop, which replenishes stock daily at 6 PM. I showed up late on the first day, and the “10th Anniversary Badge” was already sold out. The next day, I arrived at 5:30 PM, and the line stretched from the entrance of the Meifeng Building to Yuanmingyuan Street, then turned onto South Suzhou River Road, taking about 40 minutes. The purchasing limit was: 2 badges per person, 1 figure per person, only cash or WeChat/Alipay accepted—no foreign cards, so make sure to exchange some cash beforehand. I ended up buying 2 commemorative badges (68 RMB each) + a 10th Anniversary Tote bag (129 RMB), which has a full-print of Kasing Lung's sketches on the back, I already got asked for the link on the subway.

Practical Guide | How to Explore, Shoot, and Buy

Easter Eggs | Three Hidden Details I Found

1. In the bottom right corner of the manuscript area, there’s a handwritten signature from Kasing Lung in pencil on the wallpaper, you can't see it unless you look down.
2. The 10th Anniversary badge has Shanghai coordinates “121.48E 31.23N” engraved on the back, only in Shanghai, while later stops in Chengdu and Shenzhen will have different city coordinates.
3. There’s a “labubu 10th” sticker on the side of the cash register in the pop-up shop; you can ask for it for free, the staff won’t offer it automatically. I asked when I was checking out, and she handed me two stickers right away.

One-Sentence Summary

The toothless little monster at Rock Bund Source, Huangpu District, Shanghai is here until November 8th. If you want to get your hands on the unreleased manuscripts and grab the Shanghai coordinate limited badge, make sure to queue up early, wear pants + bring cash + arrive before 5:30 PM, and you're good to go!