- Shanghai residents flocked to luxury stores as soon as the city opened after two months in lockdown.
- Fashion houses such as Prada, Dior, and Louis Vuitton all saw queues on Wednesday, SCMP reported.
- "Revenge spending in Shanghai means long queues outside Hermès," a social media user said.
Shanghai residents flocked to luxury stores on the first day of the city's reopening after spending two months under a strict Covid lockdown that stopped them from even heading out to buy food.
With shopping malls open again on Wednesday, stores for fashion houses such as Prada, Dior and Louis Vuitton all saw queues of shoppers, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported.
Per the outlet, customers also popped in to a store for luxury jewelry brand De Beers. "We are excited to see customers return to store and most have expressed interest in our one-carat diamond rings," one of the brand's store managers told SCMP.
On China's Twitter-like Weibo platform, users also shared pictures of their post-lockdown luxury purchases. The hashtag "Shanghai is back" has since received more than 830 million views on the platform.
One user shared photos of herself shopping for a pair of Prada glasses. "Happy holidays to all the big children," she commented in her post, referring to Children's Day, which is also celebrated on June 1.
"Revenge spending in Shanghai means long queues outside Hermès. The woman in front was carrying two big LV (Louis Vuitton) bags," another Weibo user observed.
Shanghai, a financial hub of 26 million, is China's richest city, and its residents are often described as being well-heeled and fashion-conscious.
Even in the midst of the lockdown, which began in April, residents found ways to show off their wealth and status — for instance, by submitting their mandatory Covid tests in shopping bags of luxury brands hung on their doors.
Although thrilled to be able to move about freely again, a Shanghai resident told Insider that she "remains wary."
A tech sector worker who only wished to give her surname, Liu, said she walked around a mall for a few hours on Wednesday evening, though she did not buy anything.
"It was nice to be out again. But if we've learned anything about the way things are done here, the authorities can announce a lockdown again whenever they want to. That's really worrying," she said.
Chinese health officials have stood by what they call a "dynamic zero-Covid" policy. This approach entails rapid lockdowns, mass testing, and travel restrictions whenever clusters emerge.