A group of U.S. university students visiting China’s Yiwu earlier this month were struck by the craftsmanship and affordability of local products.
Known as "the world's supermarket," Yiwu in east China's Zhejiang Province hosts the world's largest wholesale market for small commodities.
In early August, about 20 members of the Pennsylvania State University soccer team visited China for the first time, embarking on a study tour. They visited south China’s Hainan Province, Hangzhou City of east China’s Zhejiang, and Yiwu, experiencing both the charm of the millennia-old intangible cultural heritage and the fruits of China’s modern economic development and manufacturing.
The students noted that foreign visitors to Yiwu often start by buying an empty suitcase to prepare for their shopping. Stepping into the Yiwu International Trade Market, which boasts 2.1 million kinds of goods, the students instantly went into "shopping spree mode." Despite having done their research beforehand, the prices still amazed them.
Coach Cole Goodman and student Matthew Paul arrived in Yiwu tasked with buying gear for their team, focusing on a palm-sized foldable tracking drone.
"You know what's interesting? I could use this to film practices for the team. And as coach, I can see all the players, how we are moving, how we are transitioning with the ball, and this would be so helpful," Goodman said.
To accommodate the demand for small-scale purchases, the Yiwu market has launched a flexible sales model that enables wholesale prices even for single items. The exceptional cost-effectiveness offered by this model has left foreign visitors in awe.
"Here it's out of stock (on Amazon) and it's 100 dollars in the U.S., but here I got it for 200 yuan, so like 30 dollars, right? That is crazy. And it's good quality too," said Goodman while searching for what he bought on Amazon.
"This is one of the craziest malls I've been in. There are so many stores and they have anything you can think of and it's all super cheap. Because everything is made here and it's not being shipped out overseas, the prices haven't risen yet. So this is as close to getting it to the distributor as you can, and they buy it straight from the factory where they get it, which is why I think it's cheaper to buy it here," Paul said.
In the first half of this year, the average daily passenger flow at Yiwu International Trade Market increased by 34 percent year on year. Data from Qunar.com, a leading Chinese online travel platform, shows that during this summer, the number of air tickets booked by foreign tourists to Yiwu increased by 2.6 times year on year.
US students amazed by craftsmanship, low prices of products in Yiwu
