In the busy urban life, young people often face various pressures and anxieties. The human touch of the wet market, and the bustling atmosphere of everyday life, provide young people with a place to temporarily forget their worries and relax. For young people, visiting a wet market is not only a shopping experience but also a nostalgic cultural experience. The distance between people is widened in a fast-paced society, but everyone subconsciously has a need for social interaction. The wet market is an activity scene that contains social elements. In this space full of emotional interaction, we can negotiate prices with vendors, chat about daily life, and experience the vitality and human touch of life in a strong atmosphere of everyday life, thus obtaining spiritual comfort and satisfaction.

The popularity of social media and the rise of the influencer economy have also contributed to the popularity of wet market tourism. The rich colors, diverse ingredients, and lively trading scenes of wet markets have strong visual appeal and are easily noticed on social media. Many online influencers share their trips to wet markets on social media, and ordinary tourists are also happy to share their experiences on social platforms, creating word-of-mouth marketing and attracting more people to visit.

Image: Xiaohongshu "Wet Market Travel Guide" | Source: Public Network

Many popular wet market tourism destinations have excellent geographic locations, close to famous attractions or historical districts. Tourists can visit these wet markets along the way when visiting major attractions, which has unique geographical advantages. Many cities have also carried out special improvement projects for wet markets, promoting better environments, more varieties, and better services in wet markets. Some wet markets have also deliberately incorporated fashionable elements and emerging industries, achieving a gorgeous transformation from "old appearance to new look".

Creative Transformation and Upgrade of "Wet Market + Tourism"

In Kunming, visiting wet markets for a "local" and "wild" trip is becoming a new way to travel for more and more tourists. Just after nine o'clock, the Daguan Zhuanxin Farmers Market is already bustling with activity. Not only do local residents come early to buy ingredients, but many tourists linger among the various stalls, taking pictures of the familiar yet novel vegetables, fruits, and cooked food. The steamed pork is rich and delicious, the lotus root cakes are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, the bean curd rice noodles are delicious, the rose papaya water is refreshing, and the mountain blueberries are sweet and delicious... Tourist Andy exclaimed that if you want to deeply understand the local customs of Kunming, then the Daguan Zhuanxin Farmers Market is definitely a must-see.

Image: Daguan Zhuanxin Farmers Market | Source: Yunnan Cultural Tourism

Mushrooms are a major characteristic of Yunnan. During the mushroom season, the Yunnan Musuihua Wild Mushroom Trading Center's daily sales volume can reach 550 tons, and the daily number of customers is close to 30,000. Thanks to the widespread popularity and high attention paid to wild mushrooms, market demand has increased significantly this year. The market is bustling with activity, with the sounds of vendors hawking, bargaining, and packing tapes filling the air. A SF Express courier said that the number of shipments has reached four to five hundred a day, and these packages are sent to various places across the country, including Chongqing, Chengdu, Wuhan, Qingdao, Shenyang, Changsha, and Zhengzhou.

Image: Citizens selecting wild mushrooms at the Yunnan Musuihua Wild Mushroom Trading Market | Source: Xinhua News Agency

In April this year, Zhuanxin Dianchi Wet Market opened. With its unique architectural style—red brick walls, green paint, and blue tile roofs—it instantly takes people back to Kunming's old days. This is not only a traditional wet market, but in addition to the regular meat, egg, fruit, and vegetable shopping areas, it also cleverly incorporates a Qilin Bookstore and a Caiejiezi Post Office. Qilin Bookstore has more than 3,000 books at "wet market prices," allowing people to enjoy reading while shopping for ingredients. The market also displays various old objects, old ornaments, and creative cultural and creative products, providing tourists with a unique shopping experience.

Image: Zhuanxin Dianchi Wet Market | Source: Yunnan Cultural Tourism

Wen Er Vegetable Market, formerly known as Wen Er Street Farm Produce Market, has been located in the bustling West Lake District of Hangzhou for over 20 years. Like ordinary vegetable markets, it primarily serves an older consumer demographic. Following its renovation, it has transformed into a trendy market blending modern aesthetics with traditional charm. Wen Er Vegetable Market engaged top-tier visual identity (VI) and architectural design teams from the province. After in-depth research into successful overseas vegetable market renovations, they cleverly combined modern elements with local culture. For example, the market's signage features blue-green stripes resembling the gentle ripples on West Lake, while the main logo "Wen Er" is presented in a unique variant form reminiscent of Leifeng Pagoda at sunset. The background texture incorporates the famous Three Pools Mirroring the Moon scenery of Hangzhou, adding a rich cultural atmosphere to the market.

Image: Wen Er Vegetable Market's signage | Source: Publicly available online

To enhance the customer shopping experience, the market's layout abandons the traditional linear design in favor of multiple square-shaped structures. This allows customers to reach their desired stalls with the shortest route, while also adding a pleasant sense of leisurely strolling. Wen Er Vegetable Market also paid great attention to lighting design. The market uses a 3500K color temperature main light source, which avoids glare while providing sufficient illumination, creating ideal lighting conditions for young people to take photos. These details, though easily overlooked, subtly enhance the overall atmosphere and customer shopping experience.

Image: Interior of Wen Er Vegetable Market | Source: Publicly available online

Wen Er Vegetable Market also offers a unique service: two distinctive "cook-for-you" restaurants. They provide a new dining experience: customers select their desired ingredients, and the restaurant provides professional cooking services. Home-style dishes cost between 10 and 15 yuan, while seafood dishes start at 18 yuan. This unique service has quickly gained popularity, attracting many diners. For other food options, there are shops along the street catering to younger tastes, including Fang Lao Da Noodle Shop, Chushan Coffee Shop, Cereal Handmade Bakery, Datonghang Taiwanese Snacks Shop, Vietnamese Pho Shop, Western light meal shops, Japanese restaurants, etc.

Today, Wen Er Vegetable Market has also adopted intelligent management methods. The market provides vendors with dedicated electronic scales that record daily customer traffic, transaction volume per stall, and sales rankings. Data analysis allows the market to make precise adjustments and optimizations to better meet customer needs. Furthermore, Wen Er Vegetable Market has carefully developed a series of cultural and creative products, becoming popular souvenirs for consumers and adding a unique memory to their trips.

Image: Fang Lao Da Noodle Shop | Source: Publicly available online

Following Harbin's rise as a winter hotspot, the Hongzhuan Street Early Market has also become incredibly popular. Located in Daoli District, Harbin, it's less than a kilometer from the popular Central Street. Sun Hao, a vendor selling Russian goods at the market, recalls that previously, the street was mainly visited by local residents buying groceries. Around the National Day holiday, it became filled with tourists. On good days, small stalls could achieve a daily turnover of 4,000 yuan, four times the previous amount. Searching for Harbin travel guides on social media reveals Hongzhuan Early Market prominently featured. Even in temperatures below minus twenty degrees Celsius, each stall is crowded, with some tourists heading straight there from the airport with their luggage. Grilled sausages, egg burgers, fried cakes, and other snacks are abundant, with vendors' calls filling the street, creating a lively atmosphere.

To ensure service quality, the street has comprehensively upgraded market management. A fixed-post responsibility system has been implemented, with a dedicated working group and volunteer team established. A supervisory group is responsible for daily patrols to maintain market order and check fire safety, electricity usage, and food safety. The number of management personnel has been increased, implementing unified management standards for vendors' attire, polite language, food cart appearance, and operating areas. All merchants participate in food safety knowledge lectures, receiving in-depth explanations of common risks in food operations and circulation to ensure no counterfeit or substandard goods appear in the market.

Image: Hongzhuan Street Early Market | Source: Publicly available online

The greatest appeal of a local vegetable market lies in its authentic, lively atmosphere, essentially reflecting cultural differences between regions. Products with distinct regional characteristics are key to differentiating it from markets in other cities. Tourists visit markets largely to sample affordable local delicacies and purchase local specialties. Therefore, market construction or upgrades must retain cultural characteristics. On this basis, creative design can be incorporated, subtly integrating local elements into the market's decor, creating unique scenarios that make the market feel familiar and engaging, evoking emotional resonance in tourists, building a narrative space, and creating an immersive cultural experience.

Image: Suzhou Shuangta Market | Source: Publicly available online

As a commercial space, a vegetable market's core function is serving consumers. To upgrade the consumer experience, basic infrastructure must be improved, including drainage, flooring, and restrooms. Soft services such as hygiene, order, and returns must also be guaranteed. The target audience for vegetable market tourism is largely young people, so needs must be accurately identified. While retaining traditional businesses to meet the basic purchasing needs of local residents and the consumption preferences of older generations, diverse business models should be developed to create a hybrid market, blending traditional and trendy elements to create a fashionable, interesting, and personalized modern market. Smart management tools, using big data and IoT technology, can be introduced to create a safer and more convenient shopping experience for tourists.