(CARTOON BY LI SHIGONG)

Once considered an embarrassing eyesore that betrays the city’s humble beginnings, sidewalk stalls selling street food, cheap clothes, jewelry and all kinds of curious items are returning to Shenzhen, an ultramodern tech hub grown from a small town in Guangdong Province. The city has recently announced its plan to allow street vendors to operate in designated urban areas from the start of September. 

Despite their constant associations with poverty and backwardness, street stands are in fact very responsive to the latest trends and capable of remaining current. The city’s once modest food carts have now taken on many forms, which include night markets, curbside trunk sales, and online-offline hybrid fairs where young entrepreneurs sell coffee, bubble tea, perfume and artworks that showcase their own brands. 

The city’s new policy will also allow restaurants and stores to place picnic benches and street stands outside. However, the lifting of these curbs does not mean negligence. Local authorities and street vendors alike should make sure that these streetside sales are clean, safe and always within the regulatory limits.