Viral 'crying horse' toy spotlights Yiwu's quick response to consumer attention

Zhang Huoqing displays toy horses with crying faces at the Yiwu International Trade Market in Yiwu, east China's Zhejiang Province. (People's Daily Online/Cheng Xin)

On Jan. 12, 2026, Zhang Huoqing's store at the Yiwu International Trade Market in Yiwu, east China's Zhejiang Province, was packed with shoppers eager to snap up a plush toy of a horse with a crying face.

The toy horse was originally designed with a smiling face, but a production error turned the mouth upside down, giving it the now well-known crying expression. Unexpectedly, the mistake struck a chord with young toy lovers and turned the plush into a surprise hit.

Zhang said her team designed and produced the toy in October 2025 in preparation for the Year of the Horse, which begins in February 2026. The original smiling-face version sold more than 400 units daily at her store.

On Jan. 8, however, a netizen posted on social media that the toy they received had a crying expression. The shop that sold the toy contacted Zhang, who sent the person a replacement with a smiling face. Yet the post quickly went viral, turning the "mistake" horse—its expression blending defiance and humor—into an online sensation.

Photo shows toys themed on the Year of the Horse at the Yiwu International Trade Market in Yiwu, east China's Zhejiang Province. (People's Daily Online/Cheng Xin)

Zhang opened the toy store in Yiwu in 2017. She has a keen instinct for shifts in online traffic and consumer attention.

Once she picked up on the surge in demand, Zhang immediately reached out to her long-term supply chain partners and swiftly shifted production to the "crying horse." The number of production lines jumped from two to more than 10, and daily sales soared to over 15,000.

Zhang said that the first batch—tens of thousands of toys—was already sold out. Even after ramping up production with more than 10 production lines working at full capacity, demand continues to outstrip supply, with orders now scheduled 8 to 15 days out.

As for the worker who accidentally sewed the horse's mouth upside down, Zhang joked, "Since we can't figure out exactly whose mistake it was, we'll just give everyone a bonus!"

It took just 48 hours—from the moment the toy began trending online to the launch of emergency production—for Zhang and her suppliers to complete the entire decision-making process.

Zhang Huoqing has a phone conversation with a client. (People's Daily Online/Cheng Xin)

Yi Kaigang, dean of the Institute of Culture and Tourism Innovation and Development at Zhejiang Gongshang University, said the transformation of the "crying horse" from a flawed product into a breakout hit was not simply a matter of luck, but a real-world stress test of Yiwu's response to market demand.

Behind this success lies local merchants' keen sensitivity to market trends, as well as their strength accumulated over years across design, manufacturing, and sales, Yi noted.

As the "world's capital of small commodities," Yiwu is home to the world's largest small goods distribution system, where merchants, factories, warehousing, and logistics are tightly interconnected in a highly concentrated supply chain network. Business owners like Zhang are deeply rooted in the real economy while staying closely plugged into the internet, maintaining a sharp awareness of shifting consumer trends.