Chapter 47 46. ​​Silk Street: Commercial Bird's Nest

Xiushui Street is the most famous tourist and commercial landmark in Beijing. Climbing the Great Wall, eating roast duck, and visiting Xiushui once became the three things that must be done when traveling in Beijing.Xiushui is located between the second and third rings on the east side of Beijing, surrounded by the surrounding embassy district and CBD business district.Since 1982, hawkers have set up stalls along Xiushui East Street, selling clothes and small general merchandise.Since then, Xiushui has developed into the most famous commodity market in Beijing, where merchants from all over the country sell everything from silk to fake designer brands. In August 2004, the open-air Old Xiushui Market was demolished, causing an uproar at the time. When Xinxiushui Street opened in 2005, it transformed into a department store with a construction area of ​​28,000 square meters and 1,500 stalls.

During the 2008 Olympic Games, a large slogan with red letters on a black background was hung on the Xiushui Street building, which read in Chinese and English: Welcome to Silk Street, Commercial Bird's Nest! Later reports said that during the 16 days of the Olympic Games, apart from the competition venues, the place with the most tourists in Beijing may be this Xiushui Street building, which was officially opened on March 19, 2005. Within 16 days, dignitaries from 22 countries and athletes from many countries went to Beijing Silk Street for shopping. On August 11, former US President George W. Bush went to Xiushui Street to buy seven silk dragon robes; Mrs. Rogge, the chairman of the Olympic Organizing Committee, went to Silk Street 5 times, all to buy jade handicrafts; won 8 gold medals in a row The mother of American swimmer Phelps, who shocked the audience, also went shopping in Xiushui. When bargaining, she took out Phelps' business card and said, "Do you know Phelps? I am his mother. Can it be cheaper? This method actually works. The members of the U.S. basketball national team Dream Eight each ordered a set of suits in Xiushui Street. There was a lot of interest in cloth shoes; tennis star Serena Williams bought a silk quilt in Xiushui for $45, and then called it cheap, saying it was "super cool"...

On August 19, the shopping crowds who arrived in Xiushui created the highest passenger flow record on Xiushui Street, with a single-day passenger flow reaching 53,028.Fox TV commented: "The Beijing Olympic Games has one more event, which is to go to Xiushui Street to bargain."Among the many winners of the Beijing Olympic Games, Silk Street is undoubtedly one.It's just that this beautiful water is no longer that beautiful water. Laoxiushui is just a street about 500 meters long. It is located in the embassy area east of Jianguomen. It starts from the US Embassy in China in the north, borders on the Qijiayuan Diplomatic Apartment in the west, and connects with the Dongdaqiao residential area in the east. There are more than 250 stalls. , most of which are mainly engaged in clothing.Most of the customers on Silk Street are foreigners, and they can bargain with the shopkeepers in not-so-fluent Chinese; while many stallholders who don’t know ABC can speak fluent simple English; or, the two parties simply press the numbers on the computer Come and press, and then supplemented with English words such as "NO, NO" and "cheaper, cheaper".

Many clothing products on Silk Street are under the sign of processing and reselling. You can find almost all brand-name clothing that can appear in fashion magazines here. The Chinese call it "parallel imports."It is said that some Italians once bought Italian luxury brand clothing and watches from Silk Street, and brought them back to China for identification, but they were all identified as genuine.How to explain this phenomenon?Some people say that because China is the manufacturing and OEM base of many international brands, basically, "if some manufacturers receive 1,000 international orders, they will produce 1,200, and the surplus 200 will be transferred to Silk Street"; Others said that many clothes are made by the same factories and workers who are OEMs for international brands, and are made of the same materials. The only difference may be buttons or zippers, because these are sent together with the order.All these factors caused Xiushui's famous brand to be fake even in theory, but it was difficult for experts to tell whether it was true or false.

One of the factors that attract people to shop in Xiushui is the cheapness. The price of clothing on Xiushui Street is generally about 1/2 of that in large shopping malls.And some buyers who often buy things suggest that 1/3 of the price can be set as the target price when bargaining in Xiushui.And for some good things that you can't see anywhere else, the suggestion is to buy them immediately. Over time, other factors besides price also become the source of charm.Some vendors in Xiushui think that the charm of Xiushui is that it is an open open-air market. Customers who come to shop can relax and bargain freely. Even if they don’t buy anything, they use bad Chinese and English communication is still fun. "For the same thing at the same price, foreigners are willing to buy Xiushui. I didn't understand it at the time, and I thought foreigners were stupid. Now I am wise, this kind of exchange is called culture." A merchant in Xiushui later told the interviewed "China Youth Daily reporter said.

The first merchants to buy things here appeared in 1982, because Xiushui is close to embassies and diplomatic apartments, near water buildings, and has a rich source of customers.Moreover, it is estimated that at that time, foreign guests were the only people in China who had money and were willing to spend money to buy things.So people began to sell all kinds of goods here, from Chinese crafts, calligraphy, painting, glass and woodware to folk decorations to various daily necessities.At that time, the government department's method of dealing with such itinerant traders was to expel them, just like how urban managers in some cities treat small traders today.But I didn't expect these vendors to drive them inexhaustibly, leaving today and returning tomorrow. This special place seems to have a huge attraction, attracting countless moths to the flames.

The attitude of the government is becoming more and more enlightened, the trend of marketization is becoming more and more obvious, and the whole of China is becoming more open, especially for business. In 1985, these small businessmen who were always driven around were finally made clear. The government of Chaoyang District, Beijing approved the establishment of the Xiushui Street Market, but each household had to pay a monthly tax of 15 yuan.The government gave each self-employed a piece of white cloth printed with the words "Do business in a civilized manner, maintain hygiene, maintain quality, and charge reasonable fees."

In 1988, the government called on more than 140 self-employed households at that time to invest 3,000 yuan each to build commercial kiosks with fire prevention measures, which have been used until the old Xiushui Street was demolished.It is on this street that countless grandparents and millionaires have been born.It is said that many manufacturing companies in Wenzhou have a shop on Silk Street, basically as a display of their manufacturing capabilities and craftsmanship. In 2004, a set of data about Xiushui Street is: market business area: 1252 square meters; number of market stalls: 280 individual stall owners, more than 100 households hold collective photos and belong to the street labor service department; monthly management fee for each stall : 850 yuan; monthly tax per booth: 2173 yuan; number of people visiting Xiushui every year: more than 2 million; annual sales: 150 million yuan.There are also celebrities on Xiushui Street, such as French President Chirac, former US Secretary of State Baker, former Chinese President Yang Shangkun, film and television superstar Gong Li, and track and field star Michael Johnson.

In July 1999, Xiushui Market held a symposium of experts from the economic circles. The experts positioned Xiushui as "climbing the Great Wall, eating roast duck, and visiting Xiushui".This sentence still appears in many books about China written in English.A reporter went shopping around Xiushui and found that "a sister-in-law holding a child just sent off a gentleman with a high nose bridge in English, and immediately started a fight with a 'red-haired lady' in fluent Russian; another young man The girl ran away from the foreign customers who were unwilling to get her hands, she shrugged, spread her hands, frowned, and said 'whynot' in a straight line.Such scenes are almost endless.Economists say that Xiushui Street is "a 20th-century Qingming River Scene cut out with the scissors of reform and opening up."

However, in 2004, there was a debate about whether the old Xiushui should be demolished, although people later discovered that the so-called debate was actually a foregone conclusion of the demolition. plea. The "China Youth Daily" said in a sarcastic language that this "20th century Qingming Riverside Map cut out with the scissors of reform and opening up" will become a "Qingming Sanhu Picture".Merchants, media, and experts voiced opposition, but none of these stopped the government's determination to adopt the strategy of "demolishing the old and building the new" on Silk Street.

So, on the one hand, the media called for Xiushui to disappear, and invited experts to demonstrate how valuable Xiushui’s intangible assets are, and how Xiushui represents the epitome of the achievements of reform and opening up; , Zhang Yongping, chairman of Xinya Shenghong Real Estate Development Company, said: "Generally people think that the United States is the place with the highest rent in the world, New York is the place with the highest rent in the United States, and Manhattan is the most expensive place in New York. Actually, Xiushui is more expensive than these places!" On June 21, 2004, the day when the newly built Silk Street Market Building was auctioned, although the auctioneer kept saying to the vendors in the audience: "You do the math, the average monthly rent is 50,000 yuan, can you make so much money? "But the auction price of the stalls is still rising. Half a year later, on January 5, 2005, the old Xiushui market was officially closed. Interested reporters went to see it two days ago and found that the Xiushui market was still bustling. , the cold wind blows in Beijing in the middle of winter, but the Xiushui Street, which has long been shrouded in the sound of demolition, is still full of tourists. In the narrow market passages, merchants skillfully use English to bargain with foreign consumers to confirm the quality of the goods. Colors and sizes. Loud city noises, fashionable clothes, foreign tourists of all colors..." On January 6th, there was new snow in Beijing. As a result, thousands of people still gathered at the gate of the old Xiushui market, including media reporters and foreigners who were reluctant to leave Xiushui. It took only 20 minutes to shovel down the gold-lettered red-bottom signboard "Xiushui Market" hanging at the entrance of the old Xiushui Market. The newly built Xiushui Building on this side distributed press releases and picture albums to reporters: "The legendary oriental bird, the phoenix, sets itself on fire every 500 years by collecting fragrant wood, and is reborn from the ashes. The feathers are more dazzling and beautiful. The reborn phoenix The first cry—Xiu Shui Street dressed up. She will glow with new brilliance, and she will be more charming and charming." The first battle of Xinxiushui is to adjust to intellectual property issues.The U.S. embassy said that a survey conducted by itself showed that the value of counterfeit goods sold on Silk Street every day ranged from 181,159 to 301,932 US dollars, accounting for more than 90% of the total market revenue.The U.S. embassy also said in a press release that any decision on the future of the Xiushui market will be a landmark decision by the Chinese government to abide by its international intellectual property commitments.And some well-known international brands simply took Xiushui to court, such as Montblanc and Crocodile.But Tong Keke, the deputy head and press spokesman of Beijing's Chaoyang District, responded: "If the prosperity of Xiushui cannot be separated from fake famous brands, then we would rather not have such a prosperity." Beginning in 2006, Silk Street began to require every merchant to obtain brand authorization. Moreover, a list of brand logo patterns was hung outside each merchant. Consistent clothing.Xiushui has also begun to transform, from parallel imports of famous brands to monopoly of Chinese characteristic products.But this transformation brought with it the throes of 2006-2007.Due to operating pressure, many merchants have the idea of ​​withdrawing from Xiushui. But every major international event can bring new life to Xiushui. During the "China-Africa Forum", the Silk Street Market received more than 2,000 dignitaries and guests from various African countries. One day, there were even first ladies from four countries in the Silk Street Market: the wife of the President of Namibia, the wife of the President of Guinea-Bissau, and the Prime Minister of Lesotho Madam, wife of the President of Comoros.The Olympics are no exception.On the Silk Street website, the administrators posted some of the politicians and sports stars who had visited Silk Street; during the Olympic period, Silk Street had a visitor flow of 1 million, breaking the passenger flow record five times, and received 40 dignitaries from 24 countries; 23 The daily sales reached 383 million... As for whether this prosperity can become the norm, people are still waiting to see. 1982-1985 Street stalls→legal operation: Beginning in 1982, some original stall owners set up stalls along Xiushui East Street, selling clothes and small general merchandise.By 1985, a small silk street had been filled with hawkers selling various commodities. 1985-1987 Bazaar → Silk Street: Some merchants began to sell silk clothing and handicrafts with Chinese characteristics, and won the title of "Beijing Silk Street" for the market. 1987-1995 Daoerye → Big Money: Since 1987, with more and more foreigners, handicrafts began to enter Xiushui.While mainly dealing in silk products, many exquisite handicrafts have begun to enter Xiushui, and the wallets of many old merchants are getting bigger and bigger. 1995-2001 Silk monopoly → flood of counterfeit goods: With the withdrawal of many old stall owners on Xiushui Street, businessmen from all over the country set up camp in Xiushui, a treasured place of geomantic omen, and most of them are shrewd southerners. In 2004, the "new" and "old" took over: Some "Old Xiushui" stall owners believed that the "Xiushui" brand was created by themselves, and refused to settle in the "New Xiushui" under construction. Don't dismantle it?" The speculation was in full swing. After August 19, 2004, the demolition of Xiushui Market was basically a foregone conclusion. On January 7, 2005, Xiushui Street was demolished. On March 19, 2005, Xinxiushui officially opened.