From Shanghai, where she has lived for 17 years, Ans Hooft shares with us what strikes and concerns her as both an insider yet also an outsider. She works as a Life Coach, Stress Counsellor, and writer.
A newly arrived expat in Shanghai asked me, “Where has that famous open-air fake market gone?” Friends had told him he could score great stuff there, but he couldn’t find it anywhere. “Isn’t this Huaihai Lu?” Well, a lot has changed in the city.
Right in the spot where the fake market used to be, a shiny shopping mall has risen with the cryptic name IAPM. All the luxury brands that used to sell fake items are now real: Louis Vuitton, Prada, Gucci, Dior, Balenciaga, D&G, Coach – it goes on and on. A massive Apple experience store and diamonds from De Beers greet you. Even the sidewalk around the mall is carefully manicured with hedges, flowers, and twinkling lights. As you enter the mall, the door is opened for you. Inside, the floor is constantly being cleaned by dedicated cleaners, and an unattended cart roams around disinfecting the air. Since COVID-19, everything is super clean. You don’t even have to touch the elevator button; simply holding your hand in front of it is enough. The restrooms are so beautiful they wouldn’t look out of place in a 5-star hotel. The complex has six floors and escalators that skip a floor in order to take you faster to the restaurants or the cinema with 3D films. In the basement, there is a gigantic, expensive supermarket. Almost no one is there, because who still goes to the supermarket in Shanghai? Most things are ordered and delivered online anyway.
Totally different from the past. The old fake market was a day out, an experience, a test of your negotiation skills, and a strain on your wallet. If you couldn’t seriously pretend that you didn’t want to buy anything, you would come home with too many things. If you couldn’t hide that you really wanted that bag, you’d end up paying too much for it. It was a fun game that clever Chinese sellers always seemed to win, but we always came home happy, as if we had won a unique victory.
China wants to shed the image of selling fakes and copies, so this market had to close down and move. First to a building on Nanjing Lu, later to a location far from the center, literally underground, in Pudong. What remains is now called the ‘Fashion and Gift Market,’ and selling fakes is officially punishable. The police regularly check to ensure everything is legitimate.
Business went poorly because the location was far away and uninviting. Then, for three years, the shops had no customers at all: China kept its borders closed due to COVID-19. Traditionally, the best customers were airline crew members who came to the market with long shopping lists. After asking where you are from, it was common to hear hopefully, “Do you work for KLM?”
The shops that have survived against the odds can barely keep their businesses afloat. The sellers gladly tell you that things were better back then, but they also understand that it doesn’t work: selling both real Prada and fake Prada next to each other. They say they find the new face of Shanghai beautiful and are proud of the progress. Still, we all miss the chaos and adventure of the past. And while I think I had a lovely conversation, they keep doing what they are good at. Thus, I come home with three Lululemon-like leggings. “Why did you buy three?” my husband asks. Well, that’s why.
Ans Hooft is de auteur van het boek ‘Lockdown in Shanghai’
https://www.boekenbestellen.nl/boek/lockdown-in-shanghai/62959 )
