Making it Happen
Fri Sep 06 2019 17:19:00 GMT+0800 (Malaysia Time)
Hello from Yiwu, China
Last week I was telling you about some family business success stories from Indonesia and ladies that make it happen. You can read about it here.
So I have been in China just over a week, and a lot has happened. Its like that here, ridiculously easy to make things happen...
Coco, my wife and our agent in China remembers the Yiwu man coming to her home town village (350 miles from here). Not wanting to give her age away (haha, but this is of cultural importance) in those days the village had little communication with the outside world and the arrival of the Candy Man with his bong bong bong hand drum was an exciting day. She told me she would be collecting fallen chicken feathers for weeks ready for his arrival along with the other village children to trade for candy cane. (it was the late 1970's). Even today if you venture out of the city you will find fields of sugar cane and road side vendors offering sticks of cane or sugar cane juice. The sugar is part of the Yiwu story.
Then the Candy Men of Yiwu came to need more than just sugar cane to trade, and a lively market developed in Yiwu with other goods, sewing needles, cotton and ribbons to start.
This is a photo from the museum. 1980 - Yiwu city market. The father of a friend of mine - now wealthy - started trading in this market, sitting on the floor with goods laid out on a mat.
In 1982 this jolly guy - now immortalised as the father of Yiwu (in the centre) dared to ask the communist party if he could let people trade independently, possibly even (heaven forbid) make a profit.
This was 1982.. and he got permission to build this market.
It would take you a full day to walk from one end to the other.. and this is just the main market. It's hard to find a photo that fully captures the scale and scope of Yiwu market.
I can quote all sorts of stats - but nothing prepares you for the full on experience of stepping into the Yiwu world. We have an office and warehouse here, and trade with lots of the family businesses in this area.
All over the city are trading area's that have grown up for different product groups, some in back streets and fairly informal with traders coming and going from all over the world. One of the most diverse and interesting is the gemstone jewellery area. Indian's, Africans, Brazilians and people from all over Asia and China bring gemstones and trade.. There are a grid of backstreets, tumble-stone machines rumbling on pavements, huge piles of rocks, different shops specialising in lapis (from Afghanistan) or turquoise (from Iran) or tiger-eye (from Africa).. Shells of every kind (from Indonesia) every walk of life, every nationality is mingling here.. out of which great beauty comes... and fortunes are made.
Lots of people came to Yiwu looking for a good living - starting with next to nothing and made things happen.
Things happen fast here.. so who knows what can happen this week..
Next week more news..
Take care
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