Dongjie, last roadside flea market in city, to shut down next month
Print Edition
ONE of the last vestiges of the city, the Dongjie roadside flea market will be shut down at the end of November.
Deteriorating business, disputes between traders and residents, and dissatisfaction with the settlement deals were the reasons given for the bitter end of the 30-year-old market, which was famous for selling second-hand home appliances.
Dongjie, literally the East Street, stretched about 150 meters from the busy Fuxing Road E. near Zhonghua Road, all the way to Xiaodongmen area in Huangpu District.
The residents said the market was established in the 1980s by the government to give business opportunities to poor families in the area. But many of them had now rented the space to people from out of town.
“I can’t say I’ll miss the place because every party has to come to an end,” said a 37-year-old tenant, surnamed Liu, from Jiangsu Province. Liu said he had been running his business at Dongjie for 20 years.
Tenants said business had been languishing for years, while residents made the most of cheap mechanical repair work available on the street.
A notice issued by its management at the end of last month claimed illegal construction was rampant, posing fire hazards. The drainage system was overloaded and it was getting difficult for vehicles to pass by, forcing the authorities to act.
“I’m just not happy that we’re being given such a short notice while all the benefits seem to go to the landlords, many of whom have never met their tenants because they signed the lease with the management,” Liu said.
The director of the agency involved in preparatory work to shut down the market, a man surnamed Wang, said the landlords will have to negotiate settlement deals with the tenants, but “whatever happens,” the market would definitely close by November 30.
Residents along the street and in nearby neighborhoods welcomed the decision, saying they had been complaining about the deteriorating state of affairs for years. They alleged that the government turned a blind eye as it profited from the market.
“I can’t sleep well at night because they are unloading goods and rolling shutters till 2am. Look, we have been literally living among trash,” said a 69-year-old woman surnamed Li.
Dongjie along with Qiujiang, Niuzhuang and Zhonghuaxin roads market were the four famous flea markets in Shanghai. The last three have already been shut down.
Senior citizens said they still remember the golden times when such markets thrived in the city. Xu Zhiyun, a 60-year-old citizen, who claims he made the smallest car in the world last year, said most parts of his car were bought from various flea markets in the city. “I have been to Dongjie. It’s a shame they are all gone. Only a few old houses are left to remind us of their existence,” he said.
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