Advocating Street Vending (Part 1)

Shanghai at night is a different place. If you go out around 11PM you are welcomed by a brave new world of fun, starkly different from the city during the day. Nights are a mystical time when you may be brave enough to seek unknown pleasures under the protection of darkness. In this bizarre nighttime world, there’s a special group of people who only recently moved here: street vendors. The government ban on street vending, out of concerns for cleanliness and safety, is forcing more and more vendors to seek business at night, when most Chengguans, a special kind of street cops in Shanghai, are not on duty. Night has become the shelter for these exiled vendors. Street markets, which used to be part of the everyday lives of Shanghai citizens, are now often the sole privilege of night animals. If you are new to Shanghai you might be excited about the many street vendors selling food or souvenirs at unbelievably low prices, however, as a local, what I see is a depressing picture of the city. Not long ago, I went to the Shanghai Culture Square at night to see Swan Lake. It was almost 10 PM when I walked out of the theatre and into the French concession. As I was walking on the street my heart stopped for a second when I encountered an old man playing harmonica and an old woman selling flowers. It was a poetic and forlorn scene, but at the same time I couldn’t help feeling that they didn’t belong here, especially the harmonica performer. He could have brought more fun to the streets during the day, but now he’s only able to play in darkness -- when the bars are beginning to get loud and the last commuter is rushing home. Early last year, some friends and I wanted to try our luck as street singers. We weren’t out to make money; we even put up a sign to indicate that we were singing for free. Unfortunately, a Chengguan made us leave anyway, although, lucky for us, he didn't charge us with a crime since it was our first time. But why are we not allowed to bring a little sunshine to busy commuters? Had we chosen a better spot we might have been successful. But anyway, I know I wouldn't be a good street vendor -- those experienced vendors who manage to do business during the day have to keep alert and be ready to escape at all times. If not, they could be charged a fine equivalent to all the money they make in a month. Today, if you walk on a main street like Tianyaoqiao Road (天钥桥路) in Xuhui District (徐汇区) you can see a wall of guards on each side of the street. When I went there was a Chengguan nearly every hundred meters along the road. I talked to one. He told me his only duty is to keep street vendors off of the streets. It is a tough job with long hours, requiring duty from 9 AM to 10 PM every day. After having a conversation with him I was left with a different impression of Chengguans: they don’t seem to personally hold the belief that street vending is bad and needs to be eliminated, and I no longer see them as malicious. Instead, they simply seem tired. They are just trying to make a living, same as the vendors. No matter your personal experience with street vendors, whether you have suffered from illness or enjoyed their convenience, I urge you to look at the streets that make up our city with a more sympathetic view. There are people living already hard lives while, at the same time , being treated as fugitives. And now, the streets are becoming mere passageways where no one wants to linger. Why can’t the streets be more fun? Why can’t we have a street culture of our own? This article was written by Lu Pang. Send an email to [email protected] to get in touch. Photo Credit: Ajeet Gary