Yiwu international Spring festival

THE advent of the year of the dragon finds Yiwu — a famous manufacturing and distribution center for small commodities– full of good cheer and anticipation for the coming year. Everywhere people are hanging lanterns, watching the dragon dance and pasting up Spring Festival couplets. Chinas celebration of the coming of spring is an age-old tradition, but for foreign merchants living in Yiwu, everything is new and beautiful.

Yiwus low prices and quality products have attracted hundreds of thousands of overseas businessmen every year. Among its residents, over 13,000 are non-Chinese doing business here. These foreign merchants have not only made connections with local businesses, but fallen in love with the city. An increasing number of businessmen of different nationalities, complexions and cultural backgrounds now choose to spend the Chinese New Year in Yiwu.

“Yiwu Is an Excellent Place”

“People live harmoniously under the rule of an efficient government in the commercial city of Yiwu; Foreign merchants live in peace and enjoy their work here.” The horizontal scroll declared,“Yiwu is an excellent place.”

German businessman Berndthi Jsforster had this couplet written specially to express his feelings about living in Yiwu. Following the Chinese tradition, he pasted these words on his doors for the Spring Festival.

Berndthi, 50, came to Yiwu in 2000.“The timing was just perfect,” he says.“China entered the WTO the next year. Last year Yiwu was selected by the State Council to carry out a pilot reform of Chinas international trade system. Opportunities couldnt be better for businesspeople here.”

Over the past few years, Berndthi has brought many products made in China to the European and American markets. He goes to great lengths to export the best possible products, forking out more than RMB 100,000 a month for product testing and making sure everything he sells meets international environmental protection standards. He also feels a responsibility towards the reputation of Yiwus business world, and has done a huge amount to publicize the market environment in Yiwu to fellow foreign businessmen. He hired professionals to produce a documentary in both English and German to inform people about the citys economic advantages and rich culture. He also intends to write a book on China and Yiwu in particular, introducing the nation and the city to his European peers just as Marco Polo did centuries ago.

Berndthi recently moved into a riverfront house with his Chinese wife and two children, named Heping, meaning“peace,” and Pingan, meaning “safe.”Life for the family gets better everyday, thanks to the local government, which makes efforts to cater to the needs of foreign merchants.

Yiwus foreign businessmen are invited to the annual gathering of the municipal legislature – the Peoples Congress– every year, and officials often solicit their opinions before making economic policies. Support is also offered to get driving licenses and settle children in local schools. “Here is not only a paradise for making money, but also a nice place to live,” Berndthi says.

Becoming a Real Yiwuer

Mohammad Jamil, a Jordanian merchant, also joins in local festivities, hanging red lanterns, pasting up couplets and making papercuts with his friends.

Mohammad came to the city to work in foreign trade in October 2005. Business was slow at first because he knew no Chinese and it was difficult for him to communicate with locals, so he signed up for Chinese classes. He worked hard, and within half a year he was impressing clients with his fluent Chinese. Soon, his business began to pick up.

In one of the Chinese classes he learnt the story of soldier Lei Feng, a symbol of selflessness and modesty. He has since looked to him as a role model, and took Lei Feng as his Chinese name. After finishing his Chinese course, Mohammad became a volunteer at the language center where he studied. For years he has gone to the center every evening, rain or shine, to help foreign students register for its programs and local people learn English.

Last Spring Festival, Mohammad received numerous calls and messages sending him New Year greetings, and many local merchants invited him to have New Years Eve dinner with them.“People in Yiwu are really hospitable. I feel like home spending the festival here,” says the Jordanian.

“But the Crackers…”

Mohamed Lemine Ould Aghrabatt has worked in Yiwu as a translator for a Mauritanian import-export company since October 2003. He lives in China alone and returns to Mauritania every six months to visit his wife and four kids. When Spring Festival came, seeing residents rushing back to their hometowns and families reunited made Lemine feel somewhat nostalgic.

He spent a lonely holiday in China instead of returning to his home country because the financial burden of supporting his large family rests on his shoulders. “I dont complain about this,” he comments. Lemine believes its worth suffering temporary separation from his family because of the lush income –more than ten times what he took home in Mauritania – that he earns here.

Some of his business partners invited him to celebrate the festival with them, but Lemine would rather spend the holiday alone in his office. “It is mainly because of the differences in culture and religions,” Lemine explains. “If I stay with their families, both sides would feel uncomfortable.”

Lemines colleague, Dedde Ould Sidim Beyes Spring Festival was less lonely during the holiday, as his wife and two kids are living with him in Yiwu.

To Dedde, the holiday is a welcome break. He can lie in and recuperate from the stresses of work, enjoying a happy family life without distracting thoughts. The only thing that spoilt his mood this year was that firecrackers were set off at all hours of the day and night. “The firecrackers woke me up over and over again during the night,” he says with emphatic gestures expressing his irritation. Though he understands setting off fireworks at Chinese New Year is a centuries-old custom, he sees it as a sheer waste of money and an intolerable source of pollution and noise. “Everything is great,” he frowns,”but the crackers…”

Putting Down Roots

Yiwus bustling Chouzhou North Road is packed with restaurants giving the businesspeople coming from different parts of the world a taste of home. Sultan, a Turkish restaurant whose Islamic decoration stands out from the surrounding business, is run by 35-year-old Oecan Sezer.

Oecans family has been in the restaurant business in his native Turkey for more than 20 years, and his brother has been running a restaurant in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, for almost 10 years. After his brother persuaded him that setting up a restaurant in Yiwu was a good opportunity to make money, Oecan arrived in the city with his newlywed two years ago and opened Sultan.

Oecan and his wife work over 12 hours a day, constantly finding things to improve. But Oecan is happy perfecting his restaurant, and takes great pleasure in catering to all the different people he meets.

Sultan customers are mainly from the Middle East along with some Iranians and Turks, but many locals, attracted by the tasty food, also eat there. Oecan is pleased to get the opportunity to introduce Turkish culture and customs to them.

During the Spring Festival period, Oecan closed the restaurant to let his mainly Chinese employees go home to celebrate the holiday with their families. He himself wanted to take advantage of this break to rest and get ready for the new years work.

Before he came to China, Oecan had heard a lot about the speed of Chinas development, but only when he arrived did he discover the reason behind it: Chinese peoples diligence and devotion to work. “I really esteem their work ethic,”he says.

When Oecan isnt working, you can sometimes find him at Meihu Stadium playing football. Though as a former professional football player his skills are far above the level of the local teams, Oecan still enjoys kicking a ball around and heads back to his restaurant with a smile on his face.

After two years in Yiwu, Oecan and his wife are growing more and more attached to the city. “From time to time we go back to Turkey to visit my family, just for a few days,” he says. “At those times we miss China and want to come back soon.” His wife Serap sums up their feelings, saying, “Yiwu is more like our hometown now.”