The primary corporate entity associated with the cosmetics brand is Shanghai Meilan Cosmetics Factory, an operating enterprise located in Shanghai’s Fengxian District. Public brand databases record its registered capital as RMB 34,200 and its establishment date as 17 December 1984.

The corporate history of ZHENGEGE predates its modern visibility on online marketplaces. Shanghai Meilan Cosmetics Factory was established in 1984 and subsequently developed ZHENGEGE as a cosmetics and cultural-creative brand. Corporate disclosures from Shenzhen Datong Industrial have identified “贞格格” as one of its proprietary cosmetics brands through its relationship with Shanghai Meilan.

Rather than positioning itself solely as a conventional skincare label, the brand was developed as a “guochao” (国潮) cultural and tourism gift brand. Its concept integrates traditional Chinese visual culture with cosmetics and souvenir products. Company-related descriptions emphasise the notion of “a gift from the imperial palace”, presenting the items as Eastern cultural gifts.

By 2021, ZHENGEGE reportedly operated more than 670 offline sales points. These locations included tourist attractions, historical towns, museums, airports, and high-speed rail and railway-related channels.

ZHENGEGE is distinguished by its use of imperial Chinese imagery as a commercial design language. The documented aesthetic incorporates elements associated with the Qing period, including:

• Qing-style court imagery
• Traditional Chinese architectural motifs
• Imperial red and blue colour schemes
• Gold-coloured decorative elements
• Qipao (旗袍) imagery
• Traditional women’s hairstyles and headwear
• Palace and roof motifs
• Pearl and classical beauty imagery

The brand is marketed as an experience-oriented Chinese cultural brand rather than purely as a modern dermatological skincare company. Consequently, packaging is considered an integral component of the product, which is intended to function simultaneously as a cosmetic item and as a souvenir representing Chinese culture.

Cosmetics

Cosmetics form the historically documented core of ZHENGEGE. Its most recognised traditional product category is 雪花膏 (xuěhuā gāo), commonly translated as snowflake cream or traditional cold cream. Brand descriptions also identify 宫廷古法珍珠膏, a traditional “palace-style pearl cream”, as a core offering.

The brand reportedly developed a product matrix comprising nearly 200 items, with products and packaging occasionally customised according to regional tourism and cultural themes. This approach differentiates ZHENGEGE from conventional mass-market cosmetics brands, as its products have historically been linked to tourism, gifting, and Chinese cultural presentation.

A significant aspect of ZHENGEGE is its integration with China’s cultural-tourism souvenir economy. Corporate materials describe the brand as a national-style cultural and tourism gift brand, with distribution through venues such as:

• 5A and 4A tourist attractions
• Historic towns
• Museums and cultural institutions
• Airports
• High-speed railway locations
• Railway systems
• Highway service areas

This distribution strategy enabled the cosmetics to function as portable cultural souvenirs rather than relying exclusively on traditional beauty retail channels. Additionally, Fengxian District authorities reported that the brand’s snowflake cream line was selected for “Shanghai Gift” (上海礼物), a programme associated with representative Shanghai tourism products.

The corporate structure behind ZHENGEGE is multifaceted. Public corporate reports from Shenzhen Datong Industrial Co., Ltd. identify 贞格格 as a proprietary brand and cite Shanghai Meilan Cosmetics Factory as the relevant cosmetics enterprise. These reports describe ZHENGEGE as a long-established cultural-creative beauty brand with a history of sales in the tourism sector.

The official website is operated under the name Shanghai Zhengege Culture Development Co., Ltd. (上海贞格格文化发展有限公司), suggesting the ZHENGEGE name is also associated with a cultural development business structure 1. For accuracy, ZHENGEGE is best described as a brand associated with Shanghai cosmetics and cultural-tourism businesses, rather than asserting that every product currently sold under the name originates from a single manufacturer.

A second distinct use of the ZHENGEGE name exists in the accessories market. On Southeast Asian e-commerce platforms, particularly Shopee, ZHENGEGE appears extensively on products including:

• Phone lanyards
• Cross-body phone straps
• Wrist straps
• Anti-loss phone straps
• Colourful woven phone straps
• Rhinestone phone straps
• Chain-style phone accessories
• Decorative phone charms

Marketplace listings in the region include items such as the ZHENGEGE Creative Color Contrast Shoulder Phone Lanyard, ZHENGEGE Personalized Colorful Weave Smiley Face Phone Strap, ZHENGEGE Rhinestone Mini Ring, and ZHENGEGE Fashion Luxury Handbag Style Mobile Phone Strap. Other listings describe ZHENGEGE products as multifunctional cross-body phone straps and anti-loss lanyards.

While these listings confirm significant visibility for the ZHENGEGE name in the contemporary online accessory market, there is insufficient public corporate or trademark evidence to confirm that these phone accessories are manufactured by Shanghai Meilan Cosmetics Factory or the same entity behind the cosmetics brand.

ZHENGEGE presents two overlapping but distinct brand images depending on the point of consumer encounter.

Traditional ZHENGEGE

This image encompasses traditional Chinese, imperial, feminine, gift-oriented, cosmetic, and cultural attributes. It is represented by the documented cosmetics brand featuring palace-inspired packaging, traditional aesthetics, snowflake cream, pearl cream, and tourism souvenirs.

Contemporary ZHENGEGE

This image is colourful, decorative, fashion-oriented, youthful, and accessory-focused. It is observed in current e-commerce listings for phone straps and lanyards, where products emphasise colours, charms, chains, rhinestones, and decorative elements rather than traditional skincare.

ZHENGEGE is the Romanised brand name commonly displayed on international e-commerce listings. The Chinese name 贞格格 can be interpreted as a feminine, Qing-era-inspired title. The word “格格” (gege) historically refers to a title used for certain Manchu or Qing imperial and aristocratic women. However, the modern brand name functions primarily as a commercial and cultural identifier rather than a claim of historical imperial origin. While the brand utilises Qing-court aesthetics as part of its identity, this does not imply that the company is an actual Qing imperial institution or that its products originate from the imperial palace.

ZHENGEGE occupies a distinctive position that resists simple categorisation as a luxury cosmetics brand. Its documented business model has historically combined cosmetics, traditional Chinese aesthetics, tourism, souvenirs, gifting, and cultural branding. The newer online marketplace presence adds a layer of fashion accessories, phone accessories, and decorative lifestyle products.

Consequently, a Chinese tourist may encounter 贞格格 as a traditional-culture cosmetics and souvenir brand, whilst a Southeast Asian online shopper may encounter ZHENGEGE as a colourful phone strap and accessory brand.

Chinese brand directories classify 贞格格 among snowflake cream brands, describing it as a small-to-medium-sized brand rather than a major international cosmetics corporation. One directory places it sixth in its snowflake cream category ranking, although such rankings are based on commercial or consumer voting and should not be interpreted as independent measures of market share.

Despite limited international brand recognition, its historical offline distribution within China has been significant. Corporate disclosures have claimed hundreds of tourism-oriented sales locations across the country.

1. 上海贞格格文化发展有限公司