China Textile City: "Cloth" From Water

China's textile city was born and prospered because of the canal. A "riverside cloth street" marked by a small awning boat has now grown into a modern "international textile city". Since the 1980s, textile city cloth merchants have traveled thousands of mountains and rivers, tried every possible way, said thousands of words, and endured countless hardships, and finally broke into a vast world by the canal, taking Keqiao fabrics across the sea and selling them to all parts of the world. "Keqiao's prosperity depends on the textile market. Without this market, we would not have today's good day." Wu Zhangyou, the first generation cloth merchant in Textile City, sighed with emotion. The river has been transported for thousands of years, nourishing the textile city and supporting the "Jinke Bridge".

A small awning boat rowed out a "riverside street"

Wu Zhangyou, 72 years old, is the founder of Shaoxing Yihao Textile Co., Ltd. He was born in a Wupeng boat and has witnessed a series of changes in the textile city market. On the eve of the National Day, he took reporters back to the market and listened to acquaintances in the market affectionately call him "Lao Wu", which reminded him of many memories.

In the early 1980s, Keqiao Ancient Town spontaneously formed a "riverside cloth street" hundreds of meters long. Some people used boats to send merchants to cloth factories, while others used boats to sell samples and trade with merchants. Gradually, a group of lively people also set up stalls on the streets near the river and on both sides of National Highway 104 to sell cloth.

Wu Zhangyou recalled that at that time, he just bought an awning boat with 400 yuan to take merchants to Keqiao to buy cloth.

"At the beginning of the market, it was all shipped by ship. At that time, each dye factory had two or three boats with oar hanging machines, two in the morning and two in the afternoon. After they were sent to the market, they were pulled to the sales department by small board cars," said Wu Zhangyou.

Today, the major markets of China Light Textile City are basically distributed along both sides of the canal. A light textile bridge connects the north and south areas. Merchants from all over the world gather here, bringing a steady stream of orders.

Pioneering a Broad World

From "small boat account" to the first generation of cloth merchants, Wu Zhangyou seized the market opportunity. At first, Wu Zhangyou rented a 1.5 square meter booth and bought goods from many places with the help of the start-up capital.

At 5:00 in the morning in winter, when it was still dark, Wu Zhangyou went to Changshu, Wujiang and other weaving factories in Jiangsu to buy grey cloth. First, he took a bus from National Highway 104 to Hangzhou, and then from Hangzhou to Jiangsu. It was already more than 1:00 in the morning of the next day to pull the cloth back to Keqiao, and then he continued to set out early in the morning. "Although it was hard at that time, as long as there were goods, they could be sold out every day."

Since it was all cash transactions at that time, Wu Zhangyou tried his best to be safe. "When you go out, you need to take 200000 yuan of cash, which is wrapped around your body and packed in a bag, which weighs 30 to 40 kilograms." He said that the cash in the bag should be "guaranteed in three ways". First, put the cash into a snake skin bag, then put a double lining cloth on the outside, and then wrap it in rags. It was with this fearless and timid drive that he bought a store the next year.

Wu Zhangyou's rapid "gold rush" is a microcosm of the thriving development of the textile city. In 1992, the East Market was completed and opened, the North Market was prepared and invited investment, and the construction of the Light Textile Bridge was started... This year, the "Shaoxing Light Textile Market" was renamed as "Zhejiang Shaoxing China Light Textile City" (referred to as China Light Textile City), becoming the first professional market in China named after "China", laying the foundation for the future development of the Light Textile City.

Inherit and Innovate to Rise an "International Textile City"

Now, when entering the textile city, there are many tall buildings on both sides of the canal, many stores and shuttle buses; The light textile bridge has changed from four lanes to six lanes, which is bustling and prosperous; A fashion release hall has been set up in the market. There are new products every day and activities every month... inside and outside the textile city, it is completely new.

At present, China Light Textile City has formed five major market patterns of "East, West, North, South and Middle". There are more than 50000 types of textiles traded in the market, and a quarter of the world's fabrics are traded here every year. The products are exported to 192 countries and regions. Last year, the turnover of the "online and offline" two markets of China Textile City exceeded 360 billion yuan.

Each generation has its own mission. Now, Wu Zhangyou's two daughters have taken over his store, one is a spot store, the other is an e-commerce store. They use new ideas and new models to relay their father's progress.

This year, the first textile new material center was established in the textile city, and the first global clothing selection center was officially opened, realizing the whole industrial chain layout from a piece of silk to a piece of cloth to a piece of clothing. Digitization, fashion and internationalization are constantly injecting new vitality into the textile city. Next, Keqiao will spare no effort to build the "Five Centers" of modern textile and create a new glory of the modern "International Textile City".

(Source: Keqiao Daily)