Dreaming of a Chinese toy kingdom

Indeed, some well-made and creative Chinese toys have been rated highly and well received not only at home but also in overseas markets. For instance, wireless remote-controlled cars made by Rastar Group, a toy company based in Guangdong province, ranked fourth in the Top Ten Toy Sales for Christmas 2018 list released by Detsky Mir, Russia's largest toy retailer. Besides, Shenzhen Bell Creative Science and Education won the startup award for its Mabot, the world's first plug-n-play robotic toy, at the Nuremberg Toy Fair in Germany in January this year.

Speaking of toys with Chinese elements, some interviewees brushed aside the issue as non-important while others expressed preference for Chinese-style toys. Ren Xiaoyu, the mother of a two-and-a-half-year-old, said that any toy is fine as long as his son likes it and whether it contains Chinese elements is not a necessity for her when buying a toy.

Niu Meiqi, a 26-year-old toy collector, has a different view. "Once I bought a decoration toy modeled after Guan Yu, a famous general during the late Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 25-220), which is close to my heart. I look forward to seeing more such toys that reflect Chinese traditions and culture ... The problem now is that many domestic toy makers ignore quality while blindly chasing a bigger share of the market and larger profits."

Cai, too, cautioned against the obsession with adding Chinese cultural elements to toys, irrespective of market demands, because toys are principally playthings that help children exercise their brains, and should be safe for children to play with.

Nonetheless, Wang, a "newcomer" to the largely fragmented Chinese toy market, hopes one day the building sets he designs will fully reflect the wisdom and beauty of ancient Chinese architecture and be as popular as Lego among Chinese children.