A recently opened kid’s spa in Shanghai is one among many businesses catering to Chinese millennials and their little kids. Although many love these new luxury services for China’s youngest, there are also those who say these daughters will end up suffering from ‘Princess Syndrome’ (公主病).”
Recently, a Shanghai kid’s spa has been at the center of an online discussion on ‘Little Red Book’ (Xiaohongshu/小红书), a popular interactive e-commerce platform focused on fashion and beauty.
The establishment named “Twinkle” is a luxurious “parent-child restaurant” (亲子餐厅) that also includes a playground and the much-discussed children’s spa, that seems to be mainly focused on catering to little girls.

A post dedicated to the spa received nearly 4000 likes and 1500 comments on Xiaohongshu within a few days time this week.

Marketing and e-commerce specialist Miro Li discussed the topic on LinkedIn, writing:
“This well decorated “kids spa,” with everything in pink, is located in a shopping mall in Pudong. It’s very popular among millennial parents and [it’s] hard to book a seat. Service fee is RMB 218 (approximately USD 32) for each kid, including a pink bathrobe, a “facial” with cucumber mask, a “foot spa”, and a glass of grape juice within [a maximum time of] three hours. The spa also has a restaurant and a small indoor playground.”

Miro Li further explains:
“This post has got people in the comments [section] split into two groups. One side strongly disagrees with parents who take kids to the spa, saying kids are too spoiled. The other side thinks this is totally normal as long as parents can afford it.”

She adds:
“RMB 218 for an afternoon with kids is not too expensive in a first-tier city, but it’s also not cheap. Apart from the debate, we can see that many Chinese millennial parents are pursuing the best quality of life for themselves and their kids. They don’t care too much about the price like their parents do and they are more willing to spend on lifestyle.”

The newly opened Twinkle “premium kid’s cafe” and spa, located in Shanghai Pudong’s Century Link Tower, is the second shop that has been opened after the success of the first Xintian-based branch.

Chinese parents increasingly spend more money on luxury goods for their children, such as branded wardrobes. Already in 2015, about 60 percent of surveyed Chinese millennial parents spent more than 3,000 yuan ($471) per month on luxury goods for their children, Jing Daily reports.
However, some people think that Chinese parents spoil their (only) children too much, leading to “Princess sickness” (公主病) (also ‘Little Emperor Syndrome’ 小皇帝病 for boys), a term used in China to describe young women who with a self-centered and high maintenance personality.
The Xiaohongshu comment section has generated some heated debates about the Twinkle kid’s spa.
“It’s not right!”, one person says: “These girls are too young to experience this. (..) It’s better to let them study when they’re young, and let them read some books.” Many other commenters agree, writing: “Children shouldn’t do the same stuff as grown-ups do.”
“You don’t get Princess Syndrome because of a spa treatment.”
“It’s not because of the price, but I would never let my daughter do this,” another female commenter writes: “I hope my daughter can grow up naturally (..) I want her to learn to do good for society and others.”
Some even call the spa a “violation of socialist core values.”
But there are also many people arguing that commenters criticizing the spa are taking things too seriously.
“What a bunch of sour comments here,” one person says: “All that talk of Princess Syndrome – you don’t get Princess Syndrome because of a 218 yuan spa treatment, it is something that comes from how parents treat their children. By getting a spa treatment, these children learn the good habit of taking good care of their skin from an early age (..). At the same time, it also teaches them about the kind of life they’d want and that they have to do their best to reach it.”
“Everyone is entitled to their own opinions,” another Xiaohongshu user says: “But I’d say it’s much better to bring your kid out to play like this than to let them play on your phone.”
However, it seems that the more critical stance is dominating this debate. The top comment of the section, receiving more than 1000 likes, says: “I just think that it’s not right to inject these kind of ideas about what enjoyment is into the minds of kids this small.”
“Mums just want to give their kids the very best,” one reply reads: “If they can afford it, it’s absolutely normal for them to do so.”
By Manya Koetse
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