Old vegetable markets in many places have been transformed into new landmarks, renovated without losing their aura.

In recent years, many places have renovated and upgraded the once crowded and narrow open-air wet markets on the basis of retaining the fireworks of the market, retaining the old stall owners and local flavor, creating new urban spaces that integrate people's livelihood security, culture, tourism and leisure. Let’s first go to the Siwan Vegetable Market in Hefei, Anhui Province.

Siwan Vegetable Market is located on Gongchen Street in Hefei. It used to be an outdoor bicycle market, but now it has been transformed into a two-story indoor market. The first floor is a fixed vendor area, with a complete range of fresh food categories such as fish, meat, eggs, poultry, vegetables and beans, ensuring residents’ daily needs for food. The second floor is dedicated to a “dew market”, which is open to scattered merchants and seasonal farmers in the original vegetable market for free every morning, allowing these mobile vendors to have a relatively fixed centralized business venue, which greatly facilitates merchants and customers.

Dai Qianyang, Operation Manager of Siwan Market: When we were renovating, we installed a fresh air system in the core part of the market. A barrier is installed around each aquatic area to minimize water spillage. This is the smart large-screen system of our Siwan Vegetable Market. All information is disclosed to the public, such as vegetable price guidance and the results of daily random inspections of all products. Next to it is our pesticide residue testing room, where daily testing of products in the market is completed.

Headquarters reporter Zhu Jiatong: After walking out of Siwan Vegetable Market, you will reach Gongchen Street. Here, breakfast, snacks, and fruits are all available. This old photo I have is of what this place looked like more than ten years ago. The streets now are very different from those then.

Dai Qianyang, the person in charge of operation of Siwan Vegetable Market: When we renovated, first of all, the floor tiles were replaced. We carried out a unified door design and relocated all merchants to their original locations, retaining the pyrotechnic atmosphere of Luyang District to the greatest extent.

Zhu Qisuo, a merchant on Gongchen Street: It used to be that people from nearby areas bought food here, but now tourists from dozens of kilometers away and even other provinces come here to check in.

Resident Kong Desheng: What I feel most gratified is that all the old things have been preserved here, and the memories of childhood are still clear before our eyes.

Today, the renovated Siwan Vegetable Market, together with Gongchen Street, is linked with the Huaihe Road Pedestrian Street and Xiaoyaojin Park area, linking together the cultural and tourism resources of Hefei’s old city. According to statistics, the overall average daily passenger flow of Gongchen Street and Siwan Vegetable Market can reach 15,000.

Changzhou, Jiangsu: Old vegetable market upgraded to meet new demands and gain new vitality

In Changzhou, Jiangsu, the originally messy scattered stalls have been integrated and upgraded into a brand new community food market, giving residents a new experience in the small matter of buying food.

Headquarters reporter Zhou Zijun: I am now in a community vegetable market called "Cuizhu Market" in Tianning District, Changzhou City. It is around eight o'clock in the morning, which happens to be the morning market time. Many residents behind me are shopping in front of the stalls. The entire vegetable market is divided into two floors, upper and lower, connected by escalators. The first floor is mainly filled with small catering shops such as fried chicken and pastries; the second floor is concentrated with agricultural products such as fresh fruits and vegetables, rice, noodles, grains and oils.

Citizen Gu Yongguan: The road to the wet market used to be narrow, with stalls on both sides. Now it is refreshing and clean, warm in winter and cool in summer, and the food is not too expensive.

The predecessor of "Cuizhu Market" was the old Cuizhu Vegetable Market that was put into operation in the 1980s. In July 2023, the old vegetable market was renovated and upgraded and became this two-story "Cui Bamboo Market". The market has a total area of ​​about 1,800 square meters, with 80 agricultural trade stalls and 17 small restaurants. 90% of the old stall owners have moved back to operate. In July this year, the market installed a rooftop distributed photovoltaic system to rely on green power to support low-carbon operations.

Zhang Nan, director of Cuizhunan District Community Neighborhood Committee, Hongmei Street, Tianning District, Changzhou City: As early as 2013, it was still a road market with dense merchants and a messy environment. After several years of hard work, the environment has taken on a completely new look. Like us this year, the parking lot has also undergone great changes. It is more convenient for people to park and buy groceries more comfortably.

It is understood that the popularity of Cuizhu Market has continued to rise after it was put into operation. During the peak period, the daily passenger flow can reach 10,000 people, and the daily average daily passenger flow is more than 6,000 people, and the overall sales volume has increased by 80%.

Headquarters reporter Zhou Zijun: This large screen is the "smart brain" of the entire market. It is connected to the smart electronic scales that are uniformly equipped in each stall. Daily vegetable prices, food test results, and turnover will be updated in real time here, which can be seen at a glance when passing by, making the vegetable prices in the entire market more transparent and making everyone feel more at ease when buying.

In order to meet the grocery shopping needs of residents of all ages, the market has also launched an online grocery shopping app; some stall owners also set up mobile phones in their stalls to live stream their goods and sell vegetables online.

At the same time, the market has opened a convenience service center on the first floor to provide massage, blood pressure measurement, sewing and other convenient services.

Zhang Nan, Director of the Community Neighborhood Committee of Cuizhunan District, Hongmei Street, Tianning District, Changzhou City: We have extended some of our volunteer services to the market, so that people can truly feel the convenience of our lives and the warmth of the neighborhood in the small daily tasks of buying food.

Cuizhu Market also hides the "bamboo" in its name throughout the market. Bamboo shoot-shaped door heads, bamboo-patterned booth enclosures... let community culture follow the vegetable baskets and enter people's daily lives.

Lin Mingxia, Operation Manager of Cuizhu Market: Because Cuizhu has the culture of Cuizhu, we want to retain these elements, hoping to make it a memory point and become an interesting, fun, emotionally connected, and pyrotechnic place.