Second hand markets flourish all across China

Niche products

Besides durable consumables, some second hand niche products are also gaining increasing popularity in China.

Sun Yaxu, 41, is an organizer of vendors selling handmade decorations, delicate accessories and other gadgets that young people might be interested in at a nighttime open-air fair in Beijing's Panjiayuan Antique Market, the largest and most popular such market in Beijing.

"I began to cooperate with Panjiayuan last year because the market hopes to attract more young people. Generally speaking, its consumers are mostly middle-aged and seniors who like antiques,"Sun said.

Sun initiated a two-day second hand market of hanfu, traditional Chinese attire, in April. Fans of hanfu as well as visitors of Panjiayuan were attracted to sell and buy different styles of clothes, hair decorations and accessories.

Hanfu lover Song Bowen is one of some 20 vendors who participated in it and sold four suits of hanfu in a single day. "We usually exchange second hand hanfu at online platforms. The market offers an opportunity for buyers to check the quality of the dresses and try them on."

Guan Tao, 29 is the only vendor selling vintage Chinese accessories at the hanfu market.

Obsessed with a deep interest for ancient Chinese silver jewelry, he had collected a lot of fine items from antique markets across the country in the past few years.

"It's a fascinating thing to speculate who used to own a piece of jewelry by studying its design with a combination of historical records," he said.

The hobby that was once considered by Guan's parents as "incapable of feeding him" has now become a business that earned him about 8,000 yuan during the two-day second hand hanfu market alone.