Night markets roar back in financial hub

Nightlife markets are making a comeback in Shanghai.

Mobile food carts and individual booths are jammed with pedestrians wolfing down barbecues, drinking tap beer, buying flowers, and more.

The resurgence of street vendors is mainly due to a cautious promotion of roadside trade in China to boost consumption and in part tackle COVID-19-induced unemployment.

The municipal government of Shanghai, for instance, kicked off the inaugural Shanghai Night Life Festival that runs through the majority of June. The city issued directives welcoming small business owners to peddle their products in the form of street stalls.

The initiative will see some 180 special activities which include the Shanghai Bar Festival, Late Night Food Hall Festival, Late Night Bookstore Festival, Sleepless Shopping Night and Night Shanghai LIVE Show.

They fall under the umbrella of the May 5 Shopping Festival, a two-month long campaign aimed at spurring spending by people cooped up in their homes during the pandemic.

During the first weekend of June, some 47,000 visitors embraced a popular street night event on Anyi Road in downtown Shanghai, a nearly 25 percent jump from its debut opening in October.

Huang Ning, deputy general manager of Kerry Properties Development (Shanghai) Co where the marketplace is located, was amazed at the scale and enthusiasm of its participants.

"It's stunning to see how people flock into the markets despite the unfavorable weather. Business resumption is happening much faster than I've expected," Huang said.

Spread over 40 stands, the nightlife marketplace has drawn in internet celebrity brands like Machi Machi, which got featured in a music TV by popular singer Jay Chow.

"The nightlife market itself is the best reflection of the city vibe," said Lin Ziying, a 33-year－old who works at a securities firm in Shanghai.

She has been to three late night fairs in a row since early June, saying the event serves as "such a relief after being confined indoors for months".

A celebration party at Sinan Mansions in downtown Shanghai comprised a host of bars and cafes in historical architecture establishments.

A total of 12 major night markets have made their appearance across the city, including the Yu Garden commercial arcade, the plaza at the Bund Finance Center, and Daxue Road near Fudan University.

The venue of the China International Import Expo was also turned into a market where companies sold imported products that were featured at the expo. They included masks from South Korea, dairy products from New Zealand and Spanish wines.

Tang Guifa, general manager of the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai), said the venue holds a night market during weekends in June and will resume exhibitions in July.

The popular marketing tool of livestreaming is being adopted as an instrument to promote the fair.

Social media sites Meituan Dianping, Bilibili and Xiaohongshu have all jumped on the livestreaming bandwagon, hoping to play a part in helping merchants convert online traffic to offline sales.

"Teaming up with 1,000 influencers and 4,000 brands, we will be giving out over 100 million yuan ($14 million) worth of shopping vouchers in various forms during the campaign," Xiaohongshu partner Zeng Xiulian said.

She said influencers shopping in the stores and marketplaces will share their experiences and insights online. By influencing others, they could help boost consumption and complete the online-to-offline cycle.

Second-hand luxury store Vintage Musevie conducted livestreaming sessions to promote some of its latest acquired products.

According to Wan Zi, who oversees the store, its 50,000 followers on Xiaohongshu were keen to watch online broadcasting as the program helps convey know-how in selecting used luxury items and guides people to visit their offline shop as the epidemic eases.

The country's leading e-commerce platforms are also lending a helping hand, offering services from inventory support to accessible financing backed by the latest technologies.

For example, Alibaba Group's Alipay said it will offer interest-free loans to small businesses.

E-commerce platform JD also rolled out $7 billion in an economic support plan to smaller shop keepers. WeChat, the digital wallet of Tencent Holdings Ltd, offered digitalization support for vendors who are strapped for cash.