At Yiwu International Trade City, China’s vast wholesale hub known for setting trends in festive merchandise, shoppers are crowding into a small stall in search of an unlikely Lunar New Year hit: a gloomy-looking red plush horse.
The toy, which has gone viral on Chinese social media ahead of the Spring Festival, features a downturned mouth, a small gold bell around its neck and eyes that appear to avert the viewer’s gaze. The Lunar New Year ushering in the Year of the Horse has traditionally been associated with energy, optimism and hard work, making the horse’s mournful expression all the more striking.
Online users have dubbed it the “crying horse”. Yet the toy was never intended to look sad. According to Zhang Huoqing, owner of the Yiwu-based shop Happy Sister, the horse was originally designed as a cheerful New Year decoration.
“A worker sewed the mouth on upside down by accident,” Zhang said, explaining that the manufacturing error transformed the intended smile into a frown. She said she initially offered the customer a refund after discovering the flaw, but the toy was never returned. Soon after, she noticed photos of the sad-faced horse circulating widely online.
Netizens quickly turned the plush into a meme. “People joked that the crying horse is how you look at work, while the smiling one is how you look after work,” Zhang said. As the posts gained traction and orders poured in, she made a commercial decision to keep producing the flawed version rather than correcting it.
The toy’s popularity reflects a chord struck among younger Chinese consumers, particularly white-collar workers who say the horse’s dejected expression mirrors their own experiences of long hours, job insecurity and workplace pressure. It also aligns with a broader trend toward so-called “ugly-cute” products, which embrace imperfections and exaggerated expressions. Characters such as Pop Mart’s toothy monster Labubu have helped popularise the aesthetic in recent years.
“These days, almost everyone who walks through the door asks for the crying horse,” said Lou Zhenxian, a Yiwu vendor who has sold festive toys for more than 25 years.
By early afternoon, racks of the plush horses outside Happy Sister had sold out, with employees scrambling to restock. Zhang said production would continue through the holiday season.
“We will keep selling it,” she said. “This crying horse really fits the reality of modern working people.”
