Fun bazaars have a lot to offer

This summer, the most popular place to go is undoubtedly the creative bazaars. When night falls, creative bazaars with various themes such as coffee, delicacies, art toys and handicrafts were unveiled in all corners of the city, spreading from commercial centers and trendy neighborhoods to countryside and mountain residences, setting off a wave of“going to the fair”. According to statistics, from the beginning of July to around the Double Seventh Festival (falling on Aug. 4th this year), nearly 20 bazaar-related events were held in Wenzhou.

From a niche to a phenomenon

Bazaars have a lot to offer

This summer, the city sees the rise of bazaars, where a small stall is a fashion stage and a trunk is a creative factory, selling sauced seafood, tiramisu, desserts, flower bouquets, garage kits, handicrafts, jewelry and more. Tasty burgers and kebabs tickled your taste buds, Duck Shit Oolong lemon tea sent refreshing fragrance, hand-made pearl jewelry and circular fans looked beautiful and chic, and there were also the new net-famous Thai“Luk Chup” desserts, which the public could buy finished products or customized on site.

Nantang New World Off-work Bazaar, Gongyuan Road Summer Night Bazaar, Light and Shadow Pier Iron Box 1.8 Bazaar and other similar creative bazaars were staged in turn.“The bazaar became popular since June and groups of consumers come from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. every night,” remarked Jin Xiaoxu, deputy manager of Wenzhou Chengfa Group Construction and Investment Company. The 2022 Zhejiang Culture and Tourism Consumption Season opened a new chapter of summer on the banks of the Oujiang River, sparking a zest of Wenzhou night culture and tourism consumption. The Oujiang Road Light and Shadow Pier in the summer night now is a trendy destination for citizens and tourists from surrounding areas.

Speaking of bazaars, many people will recall the Qingdeng Bazaar by the Tanghe River, which brings together a large number of brands and big names in cultural and lifestyle aesthetics, allowing citizens and tourists to experience an aesthetic life across time and space. Unlike traditional bazaars, these creative bazaars have diverse themes, random stalls, and creative and unique products, where young people feel free to“hunt the treasures”, take photos and share.

In addition to shopping districts, pedestrian streets and scenic spots, the premises of traditional bazaars were also further developed to form creative bazaars with different themes by integrating music, intangible cultural heritages, folklore, festivals or social focus, attracting people and revitalizing the urban and rural night economy.

At the Yongjia Riverside Bazaar, singing, fire dance, street performance, water lantern festival, etc. enlivened Nanxi River night life. Longgang“Hello Bazaar” displayed a wide range of fashion and creative products derived from the collision of local intangible cultural heritages and creativity. At the Taishun“Good She-nationality Products” bazaar, stalls for she embroidery, she medicine sachets, she clothing, bamboo products and rice sculpture rendered a dazzling ethnic atmosphere. Dongtou Dong’ao Beach Double Seventh bazaar, taking the Chinese Valentine’s Day folklore as the core, presented a national style gala with intangible cultural heritages, cultural and creative products, handicrafts, the Double Seventh Festival customs, food etc. At the Wenzhou Library summer night market, children dressed in Hanfu recited poetry and learned culture and tea art, appreciating the thousand years’ history of Wenzhou culture and the charm of the Song flavored Wenzhou culture today.

From a hit to a norm

Bazaars activate the urban and rural night economy

“Rather than do the shopping, I come to feel the atmosphere, and many netizens said they wanted to come during my live stream.” Cheng is a post-00s girl who loves the bazaar. She likes to scour bazaars of different sizes and themes for handmade items such as a piece of handmade soap, a pearl hairpin or a box of brightly colored“Luk Chup”. When evening closes in, young people like her would flock to the bazaar at night, some being buyers and some stallholders.

Gao, a post-90s professional stall owner, had previously joined the“bazaar circle” in other cities, selling handmade burgers and coffee with latte art in his car. Learning that there were also net-famous bazaars in his hometown of Wenzhou, he invited several of his friends to take up stalls together. In his opinion, the Iron Box 1.8 Bazaar was undoubtedly a masterpiece of the Wenzhou bazaars. Its art toys section centered on the Light and Shadow Pier includes a car trunk tribe, a container cluster, tent stalls, a“Gluttonous Snake” small car tribe and a performance stage.“We often look after each other’s stalls and play Frisbee, skateboard or play in bands. It’s more like a social platform for young people in Wenzhou.” Gao expressed that he and his friends could find a lot of like-minded people in the bazaar.

Since this summer, bazaars have been blossoming all over Wenzhou as an effective form of economic recovery. Small in size, they are enough to nail the spotlight and become a new highlight and scene to revitalize the urban and rural consumer economy. The popular bazaars even attracted the attention of enterprises. Yueqing City took advantage of this phenomenon to open a“Talent Recruitment Night Fair” at Super Brand Mall, where more than 40 local enterprises set up stalls to enlist talents. In this way, the creative bazaar, with its fashionable and worldly ambiance, played a new role in the city development.

The small bazaars reflect the vitality of the city. However, as bazaars crop up around the city, citizens and tourists are placing higher demands on them.“The bazaars are also net-famous sites for tourists, but their surrounding facilities such as parking and toilets are still lagging behind, and some bazaars have similar stalls as businesses flood in,” said Meng, a tour guide. There are only a few original stalls in Wenzhou, while the rest are the internet-famous businesses that attract tourists for a mere try. For creative bazaars to accumulate loyal buyers and change from a hit to a norm, it is necessary to further excavate local characteristics and the Song flavored Wenzhou culture to shape more unique“IPs” like the Qingdeng Bazaar.(ZhongXin)