Beijing's Hongqiao Pearl Market reinvents itself

The Hongqiao Pearl Market, a 45-year-old Beijing landmark, is embracing e-commerce and cultural fusion to draw more visitors.

At its peak in 2007, 70 percent of its 25,000 daily visitors were foreigners. Many vendors spoke English, and PayPal and Alipay were widely accepted.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the global recession, however, the number of foreign tourists dropped sharply, forcing the market to embrace alternative sales methods to broaden its reach. It embraced livestreaming and tapped into e-commerce.

Hongqiao's livestreaming hub, established last year, was bustling on Wednesday. The market's account logs more than 80,000 visits per day.

Fanghua Jewelry, a shop that once served British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, opened its own livestream channel this year.

"Our e-commerce base now operates more than 20 social media accounts and has fostered more than 10 influencers," said Wang Liyan, deputy general manager of Hongqiao Market.

Since early this year, Hongqiao's e-commerce efforts on Xiaohongshu, Douyin and other platforms have reached more than 500 million viewers.

Jin Wei, the general manager, highlighted the market's commitment to maintaining its position as Beijing's top pearl seller. "We'll continue blending online and offline sales, and by year's end we plan to explore cross-border e-commerce so that international customers can buy our pearls online," he said.