Zoo Wholesale Market Moving: Hurry Up (or Visit It in Hebei Province)

Bargain lovers, take note. Since blogging in December that the Zoo Market would be relocating to an undetermined location, the new home of high-octane, sweat-drenched, profanity-laden shopping has been named as Langfang – not in suburban Beijing but located, in fact, in Hebei Province. So hurry for some last-minute deals before your one-stop-shop for cheap threads uproots.

According to China Daily, the market, which opened in the 1980s, is said to have brought transportation, security and sanitation problems to Beijing's Xicheng district. In a supposed effort to lighten the load on the surrounding infrastructure, the relocation is expected to push around 100,000 people out of the capital to neighboring Hebei Province.

In the long-term, the move is also part of the government’s plan to reduce “less core resources” in Beijing's center in a bid to ease congestion and fight air pollution. 

According to The Global Times, the restructuring of resources is also part of President Xi Jinping’s plan to align the development of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei Province. A timeline as to when exactly the market shall move has yet to be announced but in keeping with Xi’s history on cracking down on corruption, it may be that change comes sooner rather than later.

Less popular with the laowai but also in Xi's crosshairs for relocation are Dahongmen (clothing) and Xinfadi (wholesale fresh produce) markets.

So before the Zoo Market ships out and is no doubt replaced with a sterile, cookie-cutter middle class emporium, make sure to take one last trip to bid its 10,000-plus stalls goodbye and refresh your memory of how fun (or infuriating) extreme haggling can be.

Photo: courtesy of William Veerbeek (Flickr)