Why a Coffee Origin Country Draws Brand Pilgrims

During the May Day holiday, Mixue Ice Cream & Tea's Zhengzhou headquarters in Henan turned into an unexpected tourist checkpoint. Queues stretched outside the flagship store for three straight days, with out-of-town visitors hauling suitcases directly from the station. The draw was limited-edition drinks and ice cream sold only at headquarters, priced close to regular stores, plus Snow King merchandise and public brand areas.

The surge overwhelmed holiday inventory and staffing. Some customers waited hours only to find items sold out, and both order pickup and checkout moved slowly. The episode shows how a brand rooted in a coffee origin country can attract fans to its home city, while also exposing gaps in stock planning and crowd management during peak travel periods like May Day.

During the May Day holiday, Mixue Ice Cream & Tea's headquarters in Zhengzhou, Henan, unexpectedly became a popular tourist check-in spot. Long queues formed outside the flagship store for three consecutive days, with tourists dragging their suitcases straight to the scene. The limited-edition drinks and ice cream sold at the headquarters were affordably priced, attracting a large number of fans eager to experience the atmosphere of the Snow King's hometown. However, foot traffic far exceeded expectations, and some customers who had queued for hours found products sold out, while both order pickup and checkout required lengthy waits. This sudden check-in frenzy showcased Mixue's immense national popularity while also exposing the brand's shortcomings in holiday inventory preparation and staffing arrangements.

▲

Click to follow | Daily specialty coffee culture magazine Coffee Workshop

During the May Day holiday, all major popular tourist attractions across the country were swarming with crowds—no matter where you went, practically everywhere you looked, you'd see tourists holding up their phones taking photos and checking in.

Interestingly, people who recently traveled to Henan discovered that in addition to the famous scenic spots, Mixue Ice Cream & Tea's headquarters in Zhengzhou has also become a new must-visit check-in spot that many are rushing to. Long queues formed outside the flagship store for three consecutive days.

It is said that most of the drinks and ice cream offered at Mixue's headquarters are flagship limited editions unavailable at regular stores, yet priced similarly to ordinary locations—truly offering great value for money. At the same time, customers can also purchase Snow King merchandise, snacks, and other items here, and visit the areas the brand has opened to the public.

To experience the hometown of the Snow King—the "top streamer of the milk tea world"—many out-of-town tourists who came specifically for this purpose made Mixue's headquarters, not far from Zhengzhou East Railway Station, their first stop in Henan as soon as the holiday began, arriving early to take photos and check in. Some tourists, for convenience, simply left their suitcases on one side of the entrance on the first floor of the headquarters, creating a unique sight.

From on-site photos shared by netizens, expectant fans formed an endless queue outside Mixue. During business hours, both the first and second floors of the store were almost entirely occupied by visitors, with the order pickup area and checkout counters completely packed—it felt as if one would be swallowed by the surging crowd upon entering.

"There really were a hundred million people storming Mixue on May Day," "Headed straight to Mixue from the high-speed rail station, saw people people people people people from afar," "Good news: made it to Mixue headquarters. Bad news: huge crowd, the line extends onto the street," "A sea of people, queuing starts at two hours."

This rare spectacle prompted many netizens to exclaim that Mixue's "national popularity is truly off the charts," with countless fans making the trip specifically for the Snow King. At the same time, however, some customers who had traveled to the headquarters specifically to try the limited-edition products reported that after queuing for hours under the scorching sun, they finally reached the ordering area only to be told that multiple drinks and ice cream items had sold out and could not be purchased.

Additionally, some customers said that due to the sheer volume of foot traffic and limited efficiency of staff processing orders, whether picking up drinks ordered through the mini-program or checking out at the register after selecting items, they had to wait at least one to two hours before it was their turn.

In response, some netizens suggested that perhaps the spending enthusiasm of out-of-town tourists exceeded the brand's expectations, so sufficient materials were not stocked and adequate staff were not arranged before the holiday to handle this wave of check-in crowds. As a result, many expectant visitors over the past few days were either deterred by the queue stretching over ten meters from morning till night outside the store, or left deeply disappointed because they couldn't buy the products they wanted.

Image source: Xiaohongshu

Disclaimer: Some images in this article are from the internet. For content on the website such as images, we will respect the original copyright and cite the source. However, due to the large volume, there may be个别 images and texts that we have not yet been able to credit. We apologize for this. If the original author has any disputes, please contact the website and we will handle it. Once verified, we will correct it immediately. Compiled and edited by "Coffee Workshop." Please indicate the source when reposting. If there is any infringement, please let us know and we will delete it. Thank you~!

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.