Morning market gives a taste of tradition

A growing reputation sees flocks of visitors brave the chilly weather to select their treats, Li Yingxue reports in Shenyang.

By Li Yingxue | China Daily | Updated: 2024-02-24 12:42

On the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, despite the challenging -5 C temperature, the Xiaoheyan morning market in Shenhe district in Shenyang, capital of Liaoning province, was already buzzing before 8 am.

Lines were forming at stalls offering tempting treats like lyudagun ("donkey rolls", which are glutinous rice rolls with sweet bean paste), meat-and-egg buns, and silky tofu pudding. The streets were packed, making it a shuffle-forward-with-the-crowd affair.

Spanning about 400 meters, this lively morning market boasted over 400 stalls bustling with activity. Tourists from all corners of the country, amid the warmth of the market, eagerly selected their favorite hot and fresh delicacies to start their day.

As the morning market-goers made their way back home, they were laden with bags filled with goodies. From the younger crowd with their arms full of soup dumplings and fried dough sticks to the older generation carrying fresh vegetables and meat, everyone found something to delight their taste buds.

Amid the hustle and bustle, cameras clicked and phones were raised for photos and livestreams. What was once a local market has now transformed into a lively attraction, drawing in visitors from far and wide.

Since last year, there's been a surge in young customers, mostly college students, visiting the Xiaoheyan morning market. Starting from New Year's Day, more and more tourists from all over the country have been flocking to Xiaoheyan.

From Feb 11 to 17, the market welcomed a whopping 65,000 visitors. This nearly 200-year-old market has become a hot spot for winter tourism, one of the must-visit places for anyone coming to Shenyang.

According to the "2024 Spring Festival Travel Forecast Report" released by Baidu Maps and others, Xiaoheyan in Shenyang, along with markets like the Hongzhuan morning market in Harbin and the Lingnan Flower Market in Guangzhou, made it onto the list of the 10 most popular markets nationwide during the 2024 Spring Festival. It ranked sixth.

Legend has it that the Xiaoheyan morning market started with a few farmers gathering to sell their homegrown vegetables and fruits. Xiaoheyan means little river's bank, as it's located next to the Nanyun River. It used to be quiet in winter, although bustling in spring, summer and autumn. But now, with tens of thousands of people flooding in daily, stall owners are busier than ever.

In one corner of the morning market, a stall selling candied haws was a hive of activity. In less than half an hour, Cao Xiaoxia and her husband had already sold dozens of skewers. The couple had clear roles: her husband skewered the haws and made the treats, while she handled sales.

Their stall sold a variety of traditional candied haws — round ones, flat ones, and even yam and bean skewers. Additionally, they made strawberry and grape skewers since it was strawberry season. All the treats were freshly made, with only the haws skewered beforehand, while the rest were skewered on-site and coated with melted sugar.

As the syrup bubbled just right in the pot, Cao's husband quickly rotated each skewer, then laid them out to cool. In the cold weather, the syrup would quickly coat the haws and solidify into a sweet shell. In just a couple of minutes, Cao's husband had already made 10 skewers.

Although they had planned to take a break during Spring Festival, they only rested for two days before reopening their stall.

"Tourists have been increasing since New Year's Day, especially during Spring Festival. I've never seen so many people at the Xiaoheyan morning market," Cao says.

The couple sells candied haws in winter and grilled skewers in summer, hardly taking a break throughout the year except for a few days during Spring Festival.

They live in an apartment building next to the morning market, waking up before sunrise to start work. They set up their stall at 3:30 am for candied haws and even earlier for grilled skewers, sometimes working all night without any sleep, Cao says.

After finishing work around 9 in the morning, they were finally able to grab a warm breakfast. After returning home, they still had to wash the haws, remove their seeds, and skewer them before taking a well-deserved rest.

"As the weather warms up, by the end of February, we won't be able to sell candied haws anymore," Cao says.

High school senior student Liu Xinyuan and her classmates from Benxi made a special trip to Shenyang the day before school started, and they got up early to explore the Xiaoheyan morning market. After patiently waiting in line for the renowned "donkey rolls", Liu indulged in some finger-shaped pancakes and then treated herself to a candied haw from Cao's stall.

"We don't have a morning market as big as this in Benxi, so I just had to come and see it for myself," she explains.

The sudden surge in tourists also presented challenges. Netizens have been offering suggestions for better service, prompting Liu Kebin, director of Shenyang's municipal bureau of culture and tourism, to open an account on the social media platform Xiaohongshu, where he personally responds to and records messages from netizens.

Responding to feedback, a free luggage storage area was set up at the market, making it easier for visitors to explore without carrying heavy bags. Additionally, on Feb 2, the Xiaoheyan Visitor Service Center was established to provide seating for customers, especially in the cold weather.

During Spring Festival, the visitor service center, which normally opens at 6:30 am, started welcoming guests around 5.

Xu Tongxiang, a staffer of the service center, woke up at 4 every day to ensure visitors didn't freeze outdoors.

"On Lunar New Year's Eve and the following day, there weren't many people, and many stalls chose to close. But from the third day onward, the number of visitors skyrocketed," Xu says.

The current visitor center, covering an area of about 135 square meters, offers free luggage storage and dining facilities for over 50 people. "We provide free use of tables and chairs, a microwave for heating meals, and free hot water and chargers," she adds.

Originally an office and rest area for gardeners, the place had not been open to the public. After visitors proposed the idea, it was swiftly transformed into the service center.

Recalling last year's Tomb Sweeping Festival, Xu noticed an increase in customers at Xiaoheyan. Besides locals, many college students studying in Shenyang visit to enjoy affordable delicacies.

With college students sharing their Xiaoheyan morning market experiences on Douyin, the market has gradually attracted more tourists.

Xu, 46, has worked at the Xiaoheyan morning market for 28 years. She started doing business there at 18, selling vegetables, and later became a market administrator.

"We sell very fresh vegetables, most of which are directly purchased from farmers. Some are from nearby cities, and others are freshly delivered from the source. The prices are very favorable, so many small supermarkets and restaurants come here to purchase groceries," she explains.

Fresh vegetables from various places, such as garlic shoots from Shouguang and strawberries from Dandong, are available at the market.

Xu noticed that this year, as more tourists visit, frozen pears have become the most popular fruit in the market. "In the past, ordinary pears were used to make frozen pears. This year, as a representative specialty of Northeast China, they are made with the largest pears available because they are so popular," she says.

She expects that, as the new semester approaches, college students returning to Shenyang will also return to the Xiaoheyan morning market to enjoy affordable and delicious food.

Xiaoheyan is just one example of Shenyang's bustling tourism scene this year. During Spring Festival, Shenyang welcomed over 11 million domestic tourists and earned over 15 billion yuan ($2.1 billion) in tourism revenue.

According to the Ctrip "2024 Dragon Year Spring Festival Travel Report", tourism in Shenyang saw a 156 percent increase in orders compared to last year, with ticket orders increasing more than fivefold.

Professor Wang Haihong from Liaoning University's Business School sees this tourism boom not as a sudden event but as the result of gradual efforts over the years. He believes it's about industries pulling together under favorable circumstances, rather than a sudden explosion of tourism.

To sustain this growth, Wang emphasizes the need to shift from simply having resources to creating quality products and improving service standards across the board. He suggests taking a holistic approach — not just focusing on "culture and tourism", but also integrating other industries, like equipment manufacturing for ice-and-snow tourism.