SHANGHAI – In a studio tucked in a Shanghai mall, Ms Shirley Chen is living out her K-pop idol dreams.

The 28-year-old is at Chen Go, a K-pop-inspired “idol experience centre”, where customers get a chance to live like their favourite stars, if only for a day.

Opened in 2024 by entrepreneur Chen Rong, the centre attracts about 40 customers daily who dance choreographed routines and pretend to sign autographs for imagined fans at a mock meet-and-greet.

Guests can choose from more than 200 outfits – some imported from South Korea, others custom-made – and step into sets designed to resemble backstage dressing rooms and South Korean music programmes.

A full package – including the outfit, shoes, hair and make-up – sets visitors back 329 yuan (S$59).

“This place is great because they prepared a lot of backgrounds, you can change clothes, put together some videos by yourself, and accomplish your dreams of being an idol,” said Ms Shirley Chen, who travelled from Ningbo, south of Shanghai, to celebrate her upcoming birthday at Chen Go.

“When I was a child, I liked to dance. I wanted to develop on a similar (idol) path. However, as I got older, my parents wanted me to do something that could make money. So, they kind of killed my childhood dreams.”

Founder Chen Rong is a K-pop fan too, and her original plan was to open a photo studio mimicking an idyllic classroom with blackboards and desks, a nod to popular South Korean reality TV shows where idols dress like high school students.

“Then I made a meet-and-greet set-up, and later the backstage set-up. After expanding in this way, I thought that all of my set-ups are related to the idol topic, so I can open an all-in-one idol experience centre,” she said.

The studio, which also attracts tourists from Russia, Japan and South Korea, will double in size by May. Among other plans, Ms Chen said she will start featuring social media influencers as guest emcees and building a st...