OPEN-AIR MARKETS DECLINE AMID DEVELOPMENT SHIFT
Buyers see drop in number of Beijing venues
It was past midnight when 22-year-old Kang Zexin left the Daliushu Ghost Market with her purchases. During her three-hour visit, Kang bought a silver ring with a pattern promising a blessing, a vintage porcelain horse, a dozen calendars from the 1970s and ’80s, a pocket calendar with musical emblems on the cover and a ticket, issued in the 1990s, to visit Zhongnanhai, headquarters of the Communist Party of China.
Kang, an antiques enthusiast, said that although her purchases were not valuable, she had achieved her goal of visiting the famous night market.
The market, located near Beijing’s East Fourth Ring Road, does not have fixed business hours, but many merchants set up and start to sell late in the evening on Tuesdays and stay open until a few hours after dawn the next day. This is one of the origins of the market’s name.
Another story behind the name lies in the unknown sources of the goods sold.
According to folklore, the market’s history can be traced to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Some aristocrats, faced with declining fortunes, were said to have had to sell their family collections or heirlooms to get by.
They chose to trade at midnight, using darkness as a cover to prevent buyers from learning their identity. In turn, the buyers, according to an unwritten rule, would not ask where the merchandise came from.
Goods offered at the market include antiques, jewelry, furniture, crystals and other stones, clothing and books.
Amateur collector Ding Ding picked up a palm-sized jade tablet and inspected it thoroughly for a time with a flashlight.
He told the seller: “The quality of the jade is fine, as are the carving and the pattern. I could buy it, but it is not worth the price you’re asking.”
Ding, who lives in Beijing’s Shunyi district, sometimes visits the market with friends to see if there is anything worth buying.
For a while he has been unable to find anything he likes. “Finding something at the ghost market is really a matter of luck. You can never predict when you will be able to find a piece, or what its true value is,” he said.
Ding said some of the antiques sold at the market, such as jade and silver items, are genuine, but the quality can vary.
“It’s hard to say whether these ‘antiques’ are as old as the owners claim, because many of them are made to look as if they are ancient.”
Most of the genuine antiques are from the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China period, and if a seller claims the goods come from an earlier time, it is highly likely that they are fakes, Ding said.
“There used to be some buyers who made quite a fortune when they discovered valuable treasures, but in recent years this has not been the case,” he said.
“People are well aware of the situation, and most of them are here just for fun. If you find something that you really like or means a lot to you, and if the price is not too outrageous, you can still have it.”
Over time, in addition to antiques, the market has sold other old goods and secondhand household items.
Kang, who works as an intern in Beijing, said visiting the market is top of her must-do list in the city. “I’ve been obsessed with old stuff since childhood, and I really enjoy shopping at flea markets.”
She said that when she studied in the United Kingdom, she spent nearly all her spare time in antique shops.
“When traveling to other countries and cities in Europe, I always wanted to visit the local antique shops,” Kang said. “I once took a trip to Belgium just to visit the largest antique market in Europe ... I have made friends with some antique shop owners.”
When it comes to buying, Kang does not have a preference, but said it is crucial to “know a little bit of this and that”.
Squatting beside a stall at the ghost market and looking for some calendar cards from the 1980s, she said: “I enjoy collecting old stuff. It can be toys, accessories, books and postcards, as long as I find them interesting.”
At the same stall, a man at his late 20s was sitting on a wooden bench, carefully checking some old postcards with a flashlight. He then picked several from the pile, bargained with the owner, and paid about 12 yuan ($1.70) for them.
The stall sells secondhand daily items from the 1980s and ’90s, such as large vacuum flasks that were once must-haves for almost every Chinese family, old banknotes, and pagers and watches.
Elsewhere in the market, Liu Qingli and her boyfriend set up a stall to sell the badges they bought while traveling abroad.
“The more I travel, the more I collect. But it was only recently, when I was about to move house, that I realized what a large collection I had. So I decided to sell parts of it to save some space and see if I could make some money,” Liu said. flea markets in Beijing. “But the Daliushu venue is probably the last that can be called a true ghost market.”
Li Hongyu, an urban planning researcher from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the number of open markets in Beijing has fallen in recent years because of continuous development and planning changes. “A larger open-air market involves urban management, such as traffic diversions, relations with nearby residents, sanitation, social security, and even whether use of the land complies with the planned design,” Li said.
But she added that such markets should be an important component of urban life.
“On one hand, a market can meet buyers’ needs in a more convenient and cheaper way, filling a gap that a large shopping mall is not able to. On the other hand, it also provides a way for the vendors to earn a living.”
Li cited the example of seasonal or temporary farmers’ markets overseas, where buyers can purchase directly from producers but only in regulated areas during set periods of time.
Fresh and safe
Sophie Karasimou, 30, who lives in New York City, said she enjoys visiting the Union Square Green Market in Manhattan, and always buys food.
“The produce comes directly from the farm, and is fresh and safe. The vegetables and fruit may not look that good, but they taste great,” she said.
Karamisou added that she can easily meet her daily needs at the market, be they freshly picked fruit and vegetables, meat, award-winning farmstead cheeses, a wide variety plants and cut flowers, or handmade soap and shampoo.
“And you can always bargain with the sellers, which you can never do in a supermarket,” she added.
During peak season, the Union Square Green Market can accommodate more than 140 farmers, fish sellers and bakers who sell their products from morning to evening every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.
The venue, which opened in 1976 with just a few farmers, has since become a well-known and popular site, not only for residents and producers to buy and sell, but also for travelers to experience the local culture.
“Even if I don’t need to buy anything, I still like to spend some time hanging out there, tasting the freshly made bread or sausages, or talking to the farmers for a while,” Karamisou said. “I’m glad we have such a market in the city. It has also become a place for me to relax.”
On one hand, a market can meet buyers’ needs in a more convenient and cheaper way, filling a gap that a large shopping mall is not able to. On the other hand, it also provides a way for the vendors to earn a living.” Li Hongyu, an urban planning researcher from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences