The largest clothing wholesale distribution center in the north is transformed into a new business district in the capital. Dahongmen merchants “start again”
On November 1, the Dahongmen Service Trade City, which is at the core of Beijing’s Dahongmen business district, was officially closed, marking the final stage of market unwinding.
Starting from Beijing’s South Third Ring Road in the north to the north bank of Liangshui River in the south, the Dahongmen area was once the largest clothing wholesale distribution center in the north. With Muxiyuan Bridge as the center and radiating to Nanyuan Township, Heyi Street, and Dahongmen Street, there were once gathered 45 wholesale markets, 33,000 merchants, and more than 90,000 employees.
In 2014, the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region was elevated to a national strategy, and the work of relieving non-capital functions was launched. In the past few years, the markets in the Dahongmen business district have been gradually demolished, and merchants have also found new “in-laws” in Hebei and Tianjin.
Big changes in decentralization and rectification
“In the past, there was a wholesale market in front of my home. The garbage was piled up just after it was cleared. The morning rush hour was a mess. The roadside was occupied by large trucks. Trucks and three-wheelers pulling goods would jump out at any time. I had to go out without leaving the house. I’m on tenterhooks.” Talking about the changes in the Dahongmen area, Aunt Chen, a nearby resident, felt deeply, “Now, Nanyuan Road is much cleaner and smoother. It used to take an hour to walk, but now it only takes 10 minutes.”
As the market shuts down, the clothing industry chain here gradually dissolves. For many years, the Dahongmen area has maintained a “front store and back factory” model, with clothing processing, warehousing, logistics, catering and other derivative businesses clustered around the market. A resident of Heyi Street told reporters that in recent years, illegal buildings have been demolished, unlicensed merchants have been banned, flowers and green plants have been planted in the vacant land, and the community environment has been significantly improved.
After taking off the cloak of a wholesale market, Dahongmen is accelerating the pace of transformation and upgrading under the guidance of its new positioning as a “Capital New Business District”. The reporter visited and saw that the former Fucheng Building has been transformed into the Fengtai District Government Service Center, gathering public service departments such as the library, party and mass service center, and public resource trading center, and has become a new cultural landmark on the south central axis. Xinyahui International Clothing Market has been transformed into Hopson Plaza, with cinemas, gyms, and branded restaurants all available. The commercial complex has filled the area’s consumption shortcomings.
Residents’ lives have become more convenient. “In the past, if you wanted to go shopping in a big shopping mall, you had to go all the way to Xidan or Wangfujing. Now you can go straight to Hopson Plaza, where the whole family can spend the day.” Aunt Chen said.
Decentralization and renovation also provide the possibility for Nancheng to “leave white space and add green”. Opposite the Olympic Forest Park in the north and south, the 15.6-square-kilometer Nanyuan Forest Wetland Park is being planned. It will build a large-scale green ecological space with green as the main body and interdependent forests and water, recreating the Nanyuan Wetland water network and the “Southern Autumn Wind” historical landscape. .
Thirty Years of Rise and Fall
In the 1980s, some people from Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province who were engaged in clothing business came to the Nanyuan area and opened small clothing workshops. They took apart the best-selling models to make prototypes, improved them and launched low-priced imitations. They either rented counters in shopping malls or set up street stalls in front of their homes, quickly opening up sales.
During this period, He Mingqing “drifted” to Dahongmen with his parents. “The fellow villagers worked as bosses during the day and slept on the floor at night. They lived a good life in a foreign land.” Later, He Mingqing set up his own business and started a men’s clothing business on the first floor of the Service Trade City. “When we catch up with the good times, we can make ten to twenty thousand yuan every day.”
By the 1990s, a “Zhejiang Village” with a population of more than 100,000 had gradually grown in size. In 1994, the first wholesale market in Dahongmen, Jingwen Building, was put into use, and the supply of stalls quickly exceeded demand. Immediately afterwards, Dahongmen Service Trade City, New Century, and Tianya were built one after another, and businessmen from all over the country came in droves. At the beginning of the 21st century, a clothing industry chain integrating fabric wholesale, warehousing and transportation, domestic sales and foreign trade was formed here.
It was in this trend that Wang Qingfang from Anhui came to Dahongmen. “I get up at 6 o’clock and open the shop at 7 o’clock, all year round. With the income from selling clothes, I bought my first apartment in Beijing.” Starting in 2016, news of the closure of Dahongmen continued to spread, and she was very reluctant to give up. , “I have been guarding the shop for 20 years, and my youth has been spent in Dahongmen.”
When she was 18 years old, Sui Lina followed her cousin to Beijing to make a living. She rented a stall in the Service Trade City and worked there for 12 years. She keenly noticed that with the rise of e-commerce, the clothing wholesale function has weakened, and Dahongmen has already begun to decline. “In the off-season, there are no orders for several days. It mainly relies on downstream stores to regularly obtain goods, and must find new growth points.”
Merchant starts again
Dahongmen is closed, but merchants will continue to do business. Several major wholesale markets around Beijing have become the first choice. Cangzhou Mingzhu Trade City in Hebei Province has become a “big player” in undertaking the relocation of merchants from Dahongmen, and many merchants have also transferred to the undertaking markets in Xiqing, Tianjin and Gu’an, Langfang, Hebei.
In order to attract merchants from Dahongmen to settle in, various places have launched a series of safeguard measures, such as reducing rent and property fees, providing housing at cost price, assisting in applying for various business licenses, and solving household registration and children’s schooling problems. In September this year, the Gu’an County Government held an investment promotion conference at Dahongmen Service Trade City, and more than 2,000 shops were booked on that day.
“As long as the drive and courage are still there, you can break into a new world wherever you go.” Sui Lina moved to Cangzhou with several fellow villagers. She rented a 30-square-meter stall and relied on the customers accumulated in Dahongmen to open a new business. I started an online store, updated online and offline simultaneously, and my business became more and more prosperous. “The rent in Cangzhou is less than half that of Beijing, and production and labor costs are also low. As the market becomes more mature, I believe the road will get wider and wider.”
After repeated consideration, He Mingqing chose Yongding City in Gu’an, which is across the river from Baoding, the “South Gate” of Beijing.
“The current store is twice as big as before, and it can display more seasonal new styles. After so many years of business, I finally feel like a boss.” He Mingqing feels that Gu’an offers many preferential conditions and supporting facilities. Well, it’s a good place to let go and do something big.
Wang Qingfang went to Tianjin and took root in Wanglanzhuang Wenzhou International Trade City. “It takes half an hour to get to Beijing by high-speed rail. You can go home and visit on weekends.”
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