Lotus Pond Wholesale Market

Out for a stole one day in Chengdu, I came upon an art class in session

 

 

 

 

 

Near Jing’s apartment, this businessman claims to do it all: bike repair, locksmith, welding, mechanical work, etc.

This guy sells water. It’s amazing how packed the the streets are with small businesses in China. Walmart and Amazon have not consumed all small businesses.  You can find a cell phone shop, two, three, perhaps hundreds withing a square mile. Many are family owned. The cost to start up can be as little as a few thousand dollars. China’s streets, in many regards, is more capitalist than those in the US.

Took a stroll through Sichuan University (Est 1896) which is the top school in Chengdu, and 8th in China. It has 70,000 students. It is one of the top 5 universities in China, well-known for it’s engineering programs, and publishes over 4,000 research papers annually.

The campus is really beautiful

 

No drinking water in the dorms, so students bring their jugs to fill up just before dusk

Campus handyman will fix bikes and make keys.

Lotus Pond Wholesale Market

Located on the north side of the city, the Lotus Pond Market is a great place to find bargains on consumer goods, with a solid selection of craft materials. While most of these items will appear to us as simply products that can by found anywhere, these are made in local factories.= and the market serves as a hub for small businesses around the city to stock up on inventory.

This scene is really what it feels like to be at the market. Its wonderfully crowded. From the sounds of small trucks honking their way through the crowds to deliver goods to the sounds of thousands of people bargaining, this market is insanely busy.

Crafts are big here. Not just for hobbies; many business-owners buy materials to make their own goods.

A lot of craft vendors specialized in cross-stitch. Customers can choose a pattern from a massive collection and get a tracing done in minutes.

 

It took a lot of self control to not just dive right into this pile

 

I didn’t get a chance to try whatever this is, but it looked good.

 

 

I try these fire-grilled lamb on a stick, covered in chilies and cumin powder (excellent!). the vendor appeared to be Uyghur.

 

French fries with Sichuan chili spice

 

 

A building of shoe vendors

 

 

Even the hallways of the textile building is packed with vendors.

 

 

 

Many vendors had women on step stools using plastic clappers to call attention to sales

 

Short shorts (about $4 to $7 )

 

 

Cross stitch templates