People born in the Year of the Rat are in their 20s and 90s.

In a prosperous big city like Shanghai, nightlife is indispensable. Young people go to bars, KTVs, and discos after get off work. At two or three o'clock in the middle of the night, the whole city is still lively and full of vitality.

However, not only in the middle of the night, but also at five or six o'clock in the morning, this city still has very lively places.

There is a "city" in Shanghai, have you heard of it?

Don’t be frightened by the name. This market is called from the north. It usually opens at night or early in the morning and ends at dawn. Buyers and sellers leave immediately after completing the transaction. Never mind whether the purchase was expensive or cheap, no one will recognize it afterwards.

Whether it is the atmosphere in the heart or the seemingly sneaky trading process, this is what the market calls it.

In the city, most of the goods sold are antiques and second-hand goods. There is no clear market price, so everyone depends on their ability. It just depends on whose eyes are more irritated and whether they can pick up the missing items. Everyone depends on their ability.

Come with me and walk into the early morning city of Shanghai to see what weird things are there!

01

A relatively famous city in Shanghai is located on Lingshi Road in Jing'an District. Only a few people who live nearby or in the circle know about it.

This city is very lively and belongs to a few enthusiasts.

Attention, if the market is open every day, it would not be surprising. This city only opens half a day a week, only on Friday morning, opening at 5 a.m. and ending at noon.

Of course, regardless of how long it is open, most stall owners start closing their stalls at 9 o'clock and will not wait until noon. So, if you want to find out, you have to get up early and catch the early market.

This market is located at the end of the Flower, Bird, Fish and Insect Market on Lingshi Road. It is also a market specializing in antiques and second-hand goods. The facade is not too big, and the entrance is a little shabby, just as expected! Complete! No! same!

Normally, this market has a normal flow of people. After all, it is a flower, bird, fish and insect market, and most of the people who come here are people who grow flowers and animals. It was different on Friday morning. The second and third floors were crowded with countless people looking for bargains.

The second floor is different from the third floor. The second floor is mostly fixed stalls with counters. But even outside the counter, there is a certain extension, and things are placed in a mess, so be careful where you step.

On the third floor are stalls framed with tape. From time to time, security guards would wander around, watching to see if the stall owners had extended their territory. In order to leave enough paths for people looking for goods, basically people still set up stalls in their original places.

Whether it is the second or third floor, it is very lively on Friday morning, whether it is the dazzling array of goods or the witty words that float into the ears from time to time. , made me seem to have entered another world.

For a young person like me, it simply opened the door to a new world!

02

What surprised me was that even though I had done some homework before coming here, the things on the market still exceeded my expectations.

Let me first talk about the major categories of my previous class. The first is jade jewelry. This category is indeed available in the market, but not many.

Maybe this is consistent with the definition of the market. If you sell jade jewelry that is too expensive, it seems to be inconsistent with the image of a street stall. Anyway, with such a pile of beads and strings on the floor, I have no desire to buy them. No matter how you look at it, it feels awkward. I suspect that these are processed or dyed.

After a little observation, this kind of stall is indeed relatively deserted. The stall owner was particularly enthusiastic when he saw me stopping, which shocked me.

In addition to jade and jewelry, the most relevant items are antiques, calligraphy and painting. There are more counters in this category on the second floor, but less common in the stalls on the third floor.

Understandable, after all, if you want to sell at a high price, you still have to have it.

Ancient coins like this are relatively popular. When I was taking pictures, several people came over to ask about the price.

Porcelain is relatively deserted. People who don’t understand this thing just look lonely, so there are few people asking about the price.

I am more confused about calligraphy and painting. Maybe the stall owner doesn’t care whether it can be sold. The stall owner of the well-displayed calligraphy and painting is often not in the original place. Chat with the neighbor.

Some paintings and calligraphy look good to me, but I have no idea where the stall owner is and I can’t even ask for the price. The stall owner was also very arrogant, he just unfolded it and ran away, not afraid that someone would take it away, and he didn't know what to say.

Antiques are too professional. As a layman, there are many things that I don’t understand. I can only watch the excitement. If anyone goes to buy it, be careful.

In addition to jade and jewelry, antiques, calligraphy and paintings, the most popular category on the market is various used books.

The value of books has always been difficult to estimate. Some books are old and have few stocks. In addition, the content is very good and many people need it, so the price will naturally be high. Before this, I did a lot of homework on old Confucius books.

For example, this book, if it were a key document book published that year, would be quite valuable.

Many old books are wrapped in transparent plastic bags to prevent them from getting dirty when people touch them. Apart from it looking a bit old, from the perspective of a professional hoarder - it's in very good condition. But there were more books lying there in tatters, and the stall owner didn't seem to care at all.

These books are piled together, and you have to dig them out yourself to see what is hidden inside. I dug out an old banknote catalog from the Bank of Communications. It looked like it was in good condition, but it wasn't precious at all, because there were several of them in this box alone.

For example, if the original book cover is missing, or if it is signed, even if it is in poor condition, the price will be cheaper than that of good condition.

Of course, no matter what the price of these old books, whether they can be sold in the end depends on whether anyone likes them.

In fact, these very common objects in the market are only a small part of the collection in the market. It makes me very confused, besides these, what else is worth collecting?

There are more things beyond these.

Let’s look through the “unusual” old objects displayed on these stalls, and you will understand what I mean.

03

In fact, many old objects that seem to be inexpensive are valuable and have unique charm in the eyes of those who receive them.

For a while, it was very popular to buy a newspaper with the date of your birth as a collection. When you are in the market, you can turn to the past "".

I was quite happy to see it for sale. As a result, when I asked if there were people in their nineties, the stall owner ignored me. When I asked again, the stall owner rolled his eyes and motioned for me to look at the stall. At first glance, they are basically newspapers from five to six years ago. It was my fault, farewell.

In fact, this is nothing. At most, I made an own mistake. When buying things here, you can't ask the stalls for anything, you have to see for yourself, and don't talk too much.

Later, when I was shopping, I saw something familiar from my childhood - a tape. I didn't expect that these little tapes would be collected by anyone. Thinking about the ones my parents threw away when they were cleaning up a few years ago, I feel like I have lost a lot.

But if you look closely, most of the tapes are older, and there are fewer new ones.

There are also records, especially Teresa Teng, who was the favorite of people in the past. You can see Teresa Teng’s records at many stalls.

Before going to the market, I really didn’t know that even “old photos” could be sold.

What makes people wonder is who are in these old photos, and who sold their photos? And who is buying these old photos?

I asked the stall owner and he didn’t recognize these photos of ordinary people. Out of awe of strangers, I didn’t touch any of them, even though there might be historical figures in them.

Even more rare than old photos are marriage certificates from the old era. This one is more worth collecting than the old photos, and is a bit rarer. But I hope it was lost and not sold by future generations, otherwise it would be very sad.

There are some small things that bear witness to an era, such as various food stamps and exchange items. In the era of planned economy, these small things that could be exchanged for food and drink for the family were very precious.

It is also a souvenir from the past, but this thing may only be seen by those born in 2000 or younger - an enamel basin. The value of this one is not very high, and many people still have it in their homes. The stall owners didn't take it seriously, and some just piled it at their feet.

Whether it is tapes, records, or food stamps, they are all memories that our generation has. However, there are some things that I know what they are, but in reality I have seen them for the first time.

For example, the keys on these big copper locks from the old days have only been seen in TV series. I never thought that anyone would sell them on the market.

In this city, there are many strange and weird second-hand goods.

Maybe they were common objects in the past, but after the baptism of time, they have become valuable in this era.

Even if they are not so scarce, you can always find someone who likes them and buys them home.

04

When shopping in the city, there is something you must pay attention to. That is, don't ask the price easily, if you ask, buy it.

It’s not a case of forced buying or selling, but this is a market after all. Once you ask, some businesses that are not open will ask you to either complain or tell you how valuable this thing is. . The place here is relatively small, and once people live there, they block the road. The people behind are dissatisfied, so they have to pay and escape from the encirclement as soon as possible.

Of course, there is a lot of support here. Some people may be deceived if they try to buy goods for the first time like me.

Don’t forget the market price. Once you buy, you will leave. Once you sell, you will not be held responsible. Whether it’s expensive or cheap, you have to be responsible for it.

For example, I stopped and looked at this piece of paper, and the boss almost grabbed my hand and pointed at me: "This thing of mine is yes, it is very precious. Look at this word , look at this.”

I didn’t read it carefully, but for just one word, is it appropriate to charge me 200 yuan? How do I know whether I wrote it now or in the past. After a lot of effort, I escaped from the stall owner.

But next time, I won’t be able to escape so easily. As I mentioned before, because the stalls in the market are very dense, many shop owners put their goods outside, and you will bump into them if you are not careful.

Unfortunately, I met one. Fortunately, it wasn't damaged. But even so, I didn't escape from the shopkeeper. After all, if you touch other people's things, they will always tease you. The stall owner was a woman, and she complained that it hadn't been open until now. After praising me a few times for my good looks, I looked like I was a lucky person. When I realized what I was doing, I had this pair of gadgets in my hand.

Although it is quite cute, I always feel that I have been deceived. Fortunately, my instinct was still there, no matter how much she asked for, I just paid back the money on the spot. In the end, I negotiated the price of several dozen and took away the pair of wind chimes. Everyone was happy.

Be sure to remember when you are in the city - be sure to bargain! Cut it hard!

Having enjoyed the benefits of haggling, when I meet someone I like, I will more or less ask about the price. However, when some prices come up, the lion opens its mouth, so I don’t even bargain, I just turn around and leave. For example, a bottle like this costs 1,000 yuan. Are you kidding me? You are willing to put thousands of bottles there just in case they are smashed.

A piece of art like this looks small and delicate. It’s just two parrots, so it shouldn’t be expensive, but it turned out to be 500 yuan. He insisted on saying that it was made of gemstones, so he refused even if the counteroffer reached tens of dollars. After paying for it for a long time, he found that he couldn't get even 200 yuan, so he gave it up.

Maybe in the market, people are aware of bargaining, so stall owners basically bid higher prices, leaving you with enough room for bargaining.

In the market, there are dozens to hundreds of this kind of very good-looking fur badges, mainly depending on the quality. However, as someone whose hometown is in an old area, I think the price is still a bit high. These badges were in large circulation at the time and are not rare at all.

However, not everything on the market needs to be bargained for, and there are also some items with clearly marked prices.

For example, these porcelains cost one hundred yuan each, so you can choose from them. No matter how you choose, the store doesn't care, just take the goods, pay and leave.

There are also some relatively large quantities of items that appear to be new and are clearly marked with prices.

I just don’t know how many people will buy these modern handicrafts that have the name of old objects but no actual old objects.

Although it saves trouble to clearly mark the price, without the haggling step, it makes people feel that it is also missing a bit of fun.

05

In the city, the most common people are the elderly, who are the main force in the city. Regardless of whether they are buyers or sellers, there are very few young people engaged in this industry, and most of them are middle-aged and elderly people.

In fact, it is understandable. For us, these old objects are from the past, and many of them have never been seen before. For them, these are their youth and have different meanings to them.

And precisely because they understand these old objects, they can better understand the value of these old objects, which ones are rare and which ones are popular goods and are worthless.

As for why this city opens at five in the morning, it’s easy to understand: we young people can’t get up, but the elderly can.

I looked at my sleepy self, and then at these uncles, grandmothers and aunts, and I really admired their fighting power.

Are there no young people in the city? Actually there are, I probably met two or three when I was walking around. But no matter how you look at it, they all look like they are just watching the excitement. It doesn’t look like these men are asking about the price or complaining to the stall owner about the poor quality of the products.

They all look like me, but I don’t understand. Maybe, like me, you are a member of the media who came to explore on the spot.

06

After shopping around all morning, I found that the so-called market is not as high-end as I thought. Both buyers and sellers are very down to earth.

What is sold is not just antiques, but all old objects with historical memories. Moreover, most of the objects are from after the founding of the People's Republic of China, and are not the mysterious antiques in TV series with unknown origins.

In the city, people don’t lower their hats to avoid being recognized. They are just like ordinary markets, where bargaining is lively. The difference is that the stall owners can tell the origins behind these objects, which adds a bit more history and culture.

These seemingly inconspicuous old objects pass on the memory of the times through repeated transactions. And people also get spiritual satisfaction from these transactions.

Where else can you get closer to the past than here?

Unfortunately, with the development of the city, various markets have become memories of the past, and we don’t know how long this market will exist in Shanghai.

This kind of market, which represents the pyrotechnics of the city, is becoming increasingly rare. All we can do is record it while it's still there.

Shanghai, as one of the fastest-growing cities in my country, will inevitably have some elements that cannot keep up with the times in this process. For example, the disorderly management of the market is incompatible with the newly built urban areas, and also It brings certain difficulties to management.

During the three-year period from 2022 to 2022, Shanghai will take the first step to tackle the demolition market and launch a comprehensive improvement project.

Many previously well-known markets have been demolished or moved to outer suburbs in the past three years.

For example, the well-known Tongchuan Road Aquatic Products Market in Puzhenru, although it brings prosperity to people, is actually one of the "culprits" that makes Puzhenru's poor interface. The sewage and unpleasant smell make it The development of Pu is quite lagging behind. It was closed during the 2022 renovation process.

Another example is Jiuxing Market, the largest building materials market in Shanghai, which will be closed in 2022.

These are relatively large markets in Shanghai. It’s not just about closing big markets in the city center and revamping some smaller ones. In the suburbs, markets have also been closed down continuously in the past three years. This comprehensive renovation project is city-wide.

In 2022, Jiading promoted the comprehensive improvement of five professional markets: Fangtai Hardware City, Malu Auto Parts City, Huaibei Logistics, Hongbao Logistics Park, and Shanghai Hardware City. Within three years, Jiading authorities plan to demolish more than 120,000 meters of professional market buildings.

The three years from 2022 to 2022 will mainly focus on the closure and renovation of large markets, but more markets will also be closed one after another after these three years. Shanghai's goal is very clear. Those that are not suitable for development and that bring environment, noise, and risks to the surrounding areas will be transformed.

In 2022, the Shanghai Old Book Market will also be closed, and the Wanshang Flower and Bird Market in Laoximen will also be closed. Some of the flowers and birds on the first floor below the market were moved from Lao Ximen.

On January 30 this year, Shanghai’s 14th Five-Year Plan has been released. Shanghai will fully promote the renovation of old areas and the renovation of old housing. During this term, it will fully complete the construction of approximately 1.1 million meters of central urban areas. By 2025, we will fully complete the renovation task of about 200,000 meters of houses in the central urban area with second-grade or below existing houses.

In other words, the renovation of old areas will continue, and markets with greater impact on the interface will continue to be promoted as a priority.

At the beginning of this year, the Qiujiang Road Market also started. With more and more markets, it is difficult to say whether the market will still exist in the future.

Perhaps one day, these markets will become as synonymous with the times as those old objects. By that time, I may also be old, and I will have something more to talk about with my grandson: "When I was young, I went to various professional markets, and you guys have never heard of it!"

The above is the content related to people in their twenties and nineties who are born in the Year of the Rat. It is about sharing about the city.

After reading the twelfth lunar month with the 28th zodiac sign of the rat, I hope this will be helpful to everyone!