This article is a response to the question: What kinds of markets are there in China?
On this page we introduce some of the types of markets that you can find in Chinese towns and cities. Some of the markets are usually found outdoors, while other tend to be indoor markets. Whether you are on this page to study some new Mandarin chinese vocabulary or you are here prior to a trip to China, we hope that you find this to be a useful introduction to the sights, sounds and smells of Chinese markets. We also provide some advice on how to recognise these markets and information on whether you can haggle or not.
Food market – 菜市场
Instead of refrigerating or freezing their food many chinese people like to go out each morning to do a daily shop for fresh meat or fish, vegetables and fruits. For many the morning trip to the food market 菜市场 is an established part of their daily routine. At the Chinese food market people can purchase the ingredients for their evening meal, as well as some snacks and beverages.
Household products market – 小商品市场
In the household products market you can purchase things for the home such as lamps, clocks, ornaments etc. You can also buy kitchen utensils. These markets are also popular with students as they also sell stationery and various paper products of various sizes, including printer paper. Decorations, teddies, scarves, colourful bowls and trinkets are a common feature of this type of Chinese market.
Often the 小商品市场 is divided over many floors. For example there may be one floor with clothing accessories, one for stationary, one for household goods and another for appliances.
People often spend a whole afternoon at a household products market. Tourists should try and take a visit to a household product market during a trip to Chinas these are the best place to pick up bargains and inexpensive gifts for loved one back home.
Which one can I visit in China?
If you want to visit a 小商品市场 household product market in China then we recommend the one in Yiwu – 义务小商品市场.
DIY (home-improvement) Market 家装市场
This type of market can be translated roughly as a home-improvement market. The first character here is 家，which means home. The next character is 装， which means improvement, or in this case DIY. Very basically together these characters together mean home improvement. You can buy all kinds of items at the 家装市场 including plates of glass, wallpaper, furniture, desks tables. It is considered bad luck to keep any of the fixtures, fittings, or decorations of the previous owners when buying a new home and the new owners will transform the interior to their own taste. Therefore, Chinese people will visit a DIY market when they are renovating a new home.
In some 家装市场 decoration markets you can purchase a new pane of glass and even have it cut to shape.
Haggling advice – In this type of market it may be difficult to haggle, especially if it is indoors. There may be some room for negotiation, but this will have to be be a more formal request, possibly approved by management.
Plants and birds market 花鸟市场
You may recognise the character for bird 鸟 and the character for flower 花. This type of market, which can be roughly translated as a garden centre, sells plants, flowers and even birds. Customers with an interested in Bonsai (Penjing) may visit a 花鸟市场 to purchase a bonsai tree or specialist tools.
Antique /cultural market 文化市场 （古玩市场) in Beijing
This type of market sells antiques and memorabilia. It is a nice market to visit if you are tourist looking to buy an interesting souvenir or practice your haggling skills. You may also find various precious stones sold at these markets.
Wholesale Market 批发市场
批发 means wholesale, and so a 批发市场 is a wholesale market. In big cities these are unsually indoors in a very large area with a huge number of stalls, meanwhile in towns and villages the wholesale market may be found outdoors. Wholesalers in China provide daily commodities 商品 at reasonable prices and with a discount if you are willing to buy in bulk.
Farmers Market 农贸市场
The first character of this market is 农， which means farmer. The second 贸 means trade, together 农贸市场 means farmer’s market, a place where you can buy fresh fruit and vegetables. In China these are places where farmers from rural areas can travel to the cities or towns to sell their produce. Food bought here will invariable be inexpensive and fresh. The Farmers market is a great place to visit during your trp to a Chinese city.
In teh run up to festivals Chinese familes might go to purchase essential ingredients for preparing traditional dishes. For example before the Dragon Boat Festival 端午节，familes might go to the Famrer’s Market to purchase the leaves used to make 粽子 ( a kind of Glutinous rice dumpling, enclosed in a leaf).
Can I Haggle at a Chinese Farmer’s Market? The food at a farmer’s market is always cheap, but you can also request a further reduction.
Human resources (manpower) Market – 人力资源市场
This type of market is fundamentally different to the others that appear in this list because instead of customers attending the market to buy things they attend to sell their skills and time. The characters 人力 mean manpower, and 资源 means resources. Therefore it is like a human resources market where skilled and unskilled labourers, manual workers, and waiting staff got to find temporary work. These 人力资源市场 often spring up in cities in China where there are a lot of undocumented migrant workers looking to find temporary work. Representatives of local factories, workshops, restaurants and other places of work show up to find suitable workers who they can pay a low wage for a day’s uncontracted work.
If you would like to find out more about human resources markets in China then we recommend the documentary people of Sanhe. The start of this documentary shows a human resources market in the city of Shenzhen.
Tea-leaf Market – 茶叶市场
The characters on the sign above the entrance read 茶叶市场欢迎您。The means 茶叶 tea leaves 叶市 market 欢迎 welcome 您 you. So, Welcome to the tea leaves market.
Have you ever wondered what it would like if you actually swapped something for all the tea in China? Well once you have been to a Chinese tea leave market you need wonder no more. Tea leaf markets in China have a huge range of red, black restorative and medicinal teas from right across the country for sale in loose-leaf form.
Can I haggle at a Chinese tea market? If you are buying for wholesale purposes then haggling is welcome. If purchasing small amounts of tea you may negotiate with the individual stall holder.
Book Market – 书市
Often book markets spring up in public areas in cities in China, particularly around festival time, such as Chinese New Year. For example in Beijing there is a place called 地坛公园 that often plays host to book markets. Book markets in China are usually located out of doors.