The Swap Party on Guangba Road

By Ershisikou

At 4 or 5 o’clock on a Sunday afternoon, it is darker than before because of the pouring rain.Many visitors flood here during the cherry blossom season, making Guangba Road even more crowded and noisy on such a rainy day.

In the deep alleys, people put away their dripping umbrellas and walk into a small café. Sherry is serving the customers with cakes and drinks while Giorgia is busy preparing the colored tabs for the swap party on the window.

A small-sized swap party is to be held here. Sherry and Giorgia are organizing it. Sherry is the owner of Gatto Café who likes wearing a baseball cap backward.She is slim, yet has been in business for four years.Giorgia is from Italy and has taught Italian in Wuhan for many years. She is not particularly good at speaking Mandarin, but knows enough for simple communication.

The swap party, to put it in another way, is more or less a second-hand exchange party: each participant can take out two spare tops, two spare bottoms, and two accessories to exchange at the party.

This party was initiated by Giorgia—for this kind of second-hand exchange activity is very common in Italy. Sherry said that she agreed to do it together after hearing the idea. As soon as they hit it off, they began to prepare separately.

星期天的雨越下越大，下午四五点钟天色已全部暗下来，樱花季和雨让本就嘈杂的广八路更显拥挤和混乱。

从人来人往的小道转向小巷子里，收起湿淋淋的伞，小小一间咖啡馆里满是人。雪莉在吧台里准备着蛋糕和饮品，乔治亚在窗户边准备着置换派对要用的彩色标签。

这里即将开始一场小型置换派对，发起人是雪莉和乔治亚。一个是“加图”咖啡馆的老板，喜欢反戴棒球帽，小身板的她经营这家店已有四年；一个来自意大利，在武汉教意大利语多年，普通话不算好，但简单的交流完全没问题。

置换派对，更接地气的说法是“二手交换派对”：每个活动参与者可拿出自己闲置的两件上装、两件下装、两件配饰来派对现场进行交换。

这个玩法由乔治亚提出，在意大利，这种二手交换活动很普遍。雪莉听过她的想法后表示愿意一起玩，她们一拍即合，便开始分头准备。

雪莉在小店里结识过很多生活在武汉的外国朋友，乔治亚是其中一个，来喝咖啡的次数多而逐渐熟络。英语、法语、意大利语， 随意自由的氛围让这个空间逐渐变成“外语角”，周末的时候，上下共20平米的小店总是挤满人，大家有说有笑。还有人带来自家小萝莉，瞬间变成逗笑的焦点。

“我的外国朋友们周末都喜欢宅在家，他们说武汉不好玩，我却不这么认为”，这是乔治亚策划这场置换派对的初衷，她觉得只要有人带领和引导，这个城市也可以变得很有趣。

这是他们的第一场置换派对，场地面积有限，天气也不太给力。其实雪莉并不看好，毕竟派对消息发出后，看热闹的人多，大家都是一副“我只是想看看你们要怎么玩”的心态。

“中国人还是活得太传统、太拘谨，身边大多数人对二手的东西十分抵触，特别是衣服，觉得用旧东西膈应，也有人是担心自己价位高的衣服换到价位低的衣服。”言语间，雪莉满脸无奈。

In her cafe room Sherry meets many foreign people living in Wuhan. Giorgia is one of them.She often came to drink coffee and gradually they became familiar with each other. They speak English, French, and Italian,making the small cafe room a“foreign language corner.” On weekends, the cafeteria, though only 20 square meters in area, is always bustling with people, and everyone is talking and laughing there.

Many foreign friends love staying home on weekends. They say that there is no fun things to do in Wuhan, but Giorgia doesn’t think so. This is why she plans events like the swap party. She feels that as long as someone takes a lead in organizing them,there will be more and more fun things to do for people living in the city.

Today is their first swap party.The venue has limited space and the weather is not very fine. In fact, Sherry is not optimistic. The party news was sent out, and there are many bystanders. Everyone has a mentality of “let’s see how this works.”

还好一旁的乔治亚十分乐观，她总是笑嘻嘻地对着每个人，也努力在有限的环境里创造出更多好玩的元素。这场派对，乔治亚请来DJ，音乐是派对必备，紧张的人可以随时上节奏摇摆放松。她自己用粉红色的羽毛做了一个拍照框，拍照框上贴着置换元素的卡纸，少女心爆棚。

临近派对开场，最先过来的是挺着大肚子的孕妇，预产期就在下个月。说到闲置品，准妈妈最有发言权，怀孕前刚买的高跟鞋、紧身裤，买回后全新的躺在衣柜鞋柜。若不是带来的衣物有数量限制，随随便便给你清出一整个衣柜也毫不夸张。

慢慢能看到来的人风格各异，全黑禁欲系、森女风、甜美系、名媛风，这些生活圈子完全没有交集的人聚在一起，并没有无法交流。

“最近的天气太变态，完全不知道怎么穿”；“武汉有没有新开的古着店”；“这个包很特别，是在哪里买的呀”。聊天声甚至盖过背景音乐声，明明刚认识，却可以聊得火热。

戴着红色礼帽穿着露肩装的女生叫陈西瓜，刚从意大利留学回来，她一直吐槽现在的意大利多么破旧，数不清的古着店却让人欲罢不能。

西瓜拉着做国际贸易的姐姐奥利维亚一起，两人都是闲置的衣物无数，因为看中的衣服很多，西瓜把姐姐的名额要来，最后挑了四件衣服，还迫不及待把咖啡色的针织衫穿在了身上。

穿一身黑的酷妹子叫于于宙，她逛过武汉、北京、泰国、东京很多的古着店，笑称自己家就是古着店，很多闲置的衣物也舍不得丢，换季的时候收进收出，哪怕只是看着那些好看的衣服就会很开心。

于于宙喜欢山本耀司，喜欢斗篷，喜欢咔叽范，喜欢印第安风格，住在金银湖，混迹于武昌汉口的音乐展演空间和大小酒馆，这是她第一次来“加图”咖啡馆。

一旁专注吃东西的女生叫大头虾欣欣，在汉口做行政工作，从豆瓣上看到这个活动，本想邀朋友们一起前来，却无人响应。活动报名费里包含一杯饮品和一个蛋糕，聊饿后她又加点了一份三明治。

叫小小的妹子一身森女风，因天气原因来晚了些，小小只的她看起来有些害羞怯场，转个身再回头却看到她跟乔治亚的朋友用英语愉快地聊起天来。

比起能换到什么，大家更多是觉得活动本身好玩。因为人数有限，选到合适衣服的概率变低，配饰比衣服更受欢迎，耳环、帽子、皮带、手链这些对大小尺码并不非常挑剔。

挑选的衣物可以在现场进行试穿，大家像买衣服一样，手里先抱一堆，一件一件斟酌，再换再试，边选边聊。

任何派对都带有社交属性，虽然因为天气的原因，有的人早早离场，也有人姗姗来迟，但最后大家还是聊到一桌，晒各家的宠物，聊各自的旅行。

比起买二手，大家更喜欢交换二手，因为闲置衣物太多，与其等衣柜爆炸，还不如拿出旧爱腾出空间迎接新欢。环保自然是不用说，不花钱就买到新东西的感觉也很“勤俭持家”。

派对结束时，乔治亚和在场的所有人都有些意犹未尽，期待着下一次更大规模的派对尽快到来。

（图/Minshawkwan）

Giorgia (right) and her friend

“Chinese people are still too traditional and reserved. Most Chinese people are very resistant to second-hand things, especially clothes, feeling disgusted to use old things, and some people are worried that their high-priced clothes will only exchange for lower priced ones.” Sherry looks helpless when talking about it.

Fortunately, Giorgia is very optimistic. She always smiles at everyone, striving to create a more relaxing environment.Giorgia invited a DJ for the party.That way, people with tension can keep up with the rhythm and start waving their body to relax.She made a pink-feathered photo frame for herself with SWAP posted on it, looking girly.

Near the starting time of the party, the first to enter the cafe room is a pregnant woman whose due date is next month. When it comes to unused items, expectant mothers have the best inventory.They might have just bought high-heeled shoes and tight pants before pregnancy—still brand new in the wardrobes or in shoe cabinets after purchasing.

Slowly, you can see the different styles of the participants: all black abstinence style, Mori-girl style, sweet style, and lady style. They have no connection in their life circle but can come to terms with each other.

“The recent weather in Wuhan is so erratic that I don’t know how to dress.” “Is there a new vintage shop somewhere in Wuhan?”“This handbag looks so special;where did you buy it?” The chatting voices blend with the background music. It is obvious that they have just met, but they talk most intimately.

A girl in a red bowler hat and a strapless out fit called Chen Xigua,who has just returned from Italy,keeps complaining about Italian life, but that its countless vintage shops are tempting to her.

Xigua summons her elder sister Olivia, who is engaged in the international trade business. Both of them possess countless unused clothes. Because there are many clothes to be settled on, Xigua asks for her elder sister’s quota,finally picks out four clothes, and cannot wait to put on the coffeecolored knitsweater.

A cute girl in black is called Yu Yuzhou. She has toured many vintage stores in Wuhan, Beijing,Thailand, and Tokyo, saying with a smile that her home has been nearly a vintage shop, and there are many unused clothes she is reluctant to throw away. Just looking at the nice clothes makes her happy.

Yu Yuzhou lives in Jinyinhu, Hankou, and likes Yohji Yamamoto, cloaks, khaki styles,and the Indian style. She hangs out at bars and music venues in Hankou and Wuchang. This is her first time visiting the Gatto Café.

The girl who is eating is Bighead Shrimp Xinxin, who is an administrative staff member working in Hankou. She learnt the news of this swap party on Douban, and invited her friends to come with her, but no one responded. After finishing her drink and a cake included in the cover fee, she orders another sandwich because she is hungry after all the conversation..

Xiaoxiao (literally, little or small) in Mori style is late because of the bad weather. She looks petite and a little shy, but very quickly, we find her chatting with Giorgia’s friends delightedly in English.

Participants are more interested in the activity itself than the items exchanged. The probability of choosing the proper clothes becomes slimmer, owing to the limited number of people.Accessories are more popular than clothes, as earrings, hats,belts, and bracelets are less dependent on size.

The selected clothes can be tried on at the spot. Like buying clothes, everyone holds a heap of clothes in their hands, deliberates one by one, and then tries again while chatting.

Any party has social functions—some people leave early and others come late because of the rain. They chat together, gossip about their pets, and talk about their holiday trips.

The exchange of the secondhand clothes is more favored than the purchase of them, because there are too many unused clothes. Therefore it is better to remove the old ones to make room for the new ones, avoiding an overstuffed wardrobe. It not only adheres to the principle of environmental protection, but also evokes a “thrifty feeling”to obtain new things without spending money.

When the party ends, Giorgia and all the participants are still lost in the scene, in anticipation of the next party, which promises to be larger. (Translation: Qing Run. Photo: Minshawkwan)