Post Oxygen of Tea Photo: Sina Weibo

A milk tea shop that opened in East China's Fujian Province has recently become a hot topic on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo, earning more than 300 million views. Many netizens have asked: "Is postage included in delivery?" since the shop looks to be a crossover business launched by the China Post.    

"Post Oxygen of Tea," a shop selling milk tea products opened in Fuzhou, East China's Fujian Province, earlier in June. Compared to similar shops, Post Oxygen of Tea looks like a China Post office as it sports its classic green and yellow decor as well as uses the "health-enhancing" tag for its products such as bird's nest fresh milk. 

The new shop soon inspired netizen discussions, with some saying they think the new crossover move is an attempt to particularly cater to young market groups that are active on the internet. 

"It is already planned. I'll head to check this place out during the Dragon Boat Festival because it only has one shop across the country so far, and in my experience, it will become an internet sensation, very soon," Angie, a food tasting vlogger and milk tea fan in Beijing, told the Global Times on Sunday. 

"Very cost effective, the average price is between 9 to 25 yuan [$1.40 - $3.90]," a netizen commented on online restaurant review platform Dianping.  

The new shop's link to China Post is rather less direct. In November, a pharmaceutical limited company registered the trademark for Post Oxygen of Tea. The pharmaceutical company's largest shareholder is a subsidiary with links to China Post Group Holding. 

Some netizens said that the new business is the traditional business' attempt to embrace a new market trend. 

"You can see this new shop as a crossover project, but it is also a branching out strategy for the corporation to extend its territory. The China Post has already been gearing up its medical strategy since 2019. The milk tea shop also makes use of the strength of its offline service points, which brings in consumer traffic…" Song, a commercial strategy expert, told the Global Times on Sunday. 

Similarly to the China Post, Chinese oil refining giant Sinopec Group is another example of a company that has tried to extend into new territory. In January, it dumbfounded netizens by introducing a new product completely unrelated to its expertise - luosifen, a rice noodle product that is arguably one of the most talked-about Chinese street foods and which has many young fans.