Wang Lijun, a 43-year-old chilly vendor, who has been doing business at Xinfadi Market for over 15 years, haggles with her business partner on a mobile phone. (People’s Daily Online/Kou Jie)
Only one day and 20 hours, that was all the time left. Wang Lijun glanced three times towards the calendar hanging on the shabby wall of her small apartment. Within 44 hours, she will be spending the Spring Festival at the Xinfadi wholesale market in Beijing, 686 kilometers away from her hometown, Shenyang, in northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province, where her beloved son still resides.
Getting up at 4 am and loading trucks up with fresh chili is Wang’s daily routine. Standing in the freezing wind, Wang thinks about her son, who is going to take the national college entrance exam this year, and who is about to spend his first Spring Festival without his parents.
Doing business at Xinfadi market for over 15 years, not even once has she missed the chance to celebrate Spring Festival with her family, even if the holiday is the most lucrative time of the year for a chili vendor like herself. The ostensible reason for her not coming home is to make good use of this year’s holiday to compensate for losses suffered during the COVID-19 pandemic, but it is the worry of not seeing her family that makes her wish she could have reunited with her family once again.
Dubbed the “vegetable basket and fruit bowl of Beijing”, Xinfadi market, which provides more than 90 percent of Beijing’s fruits and vegetables, was temporarily closed on June 13, 2020 due to a COVID-19 outbreak, but was reopened about two months later.
“I was there when COVID-19 hit Xinfadi market. Some of my colleagues got infected. Thanks to the government and medical workers, they are all fine now, but I cannot risk putting my family in the same situation,” said Wang.
“I really miss my son, but as a responsible citizen, it is our duty to stay put during the holiday as the government has recommended, which will reduce the chance of spreading the virus as much as possible,” Wang added.
An unusual Spring Festival
Photo taken on Feb. 1, 2021 shows the Shennong Gate of the Xinfadi market in Beijing. (People’s Daily Online/Xian Jiangnan)
As Asias largest wholesale agricultural market, there are thousands of vegetable vendors like Wang working at Xinfadi market. Wang’s unimpressive chili stall lies low in a corner, with a signboard bearing the name “Wang’s Chili”.
The “Wang’s Chili” signboard was painted in a striking crimson color and had been hung up before the COVID-19 outbreak, when its owner was making a good fortune, earning 30,000 RMB per month. Now, with her income dwindling due to the ongoing pandemic, the phrase of “Wang’s Chili” looked somewhat less illustrious, as though the signboard could have been shortened to a more modest and unassuming “Chili”.
According to Wang, the COVID-19 pandemic cost her a great fortune in 2020, but with the subsidies she received from the government, as well as favorable policies such as exemptions on rent provided by Xinfadi market’s operator, her business is now back on track.
During this year’s Spring Festival, Xinfadi market is expected to provide around 20,000 tons of vegetables and 16,000 tons of fruit every day, while 1,500 to 1,800 venders like Wang will continue working to ensure Beijing’s food supply.
“I feel happy that people will be able to taste my fresh chili during the Spring Festival, it feels like I’m contributing to a happy and festive atmosphere, which is a little more comforting and a reward for my work,” said Wang.
According to Wang, all the vendors who decide to stay at the market during the Spring Festival will be offered dumplings, a traditional dish commonly seen on Spring Festival tables.
“Though we cannot go home, it still feels like home. The pandemic has united all of us together; we’ve helped each other through many difficulties, and I think we are like one family,” said Wang.
A promising 2021
Vendors carry green beans, a vegetable that is commonly seen on Chinese families’ food table during winter season. (People’s Daily Online/Kou Jie)
Many months into the pandemic, Wang changed her company’s name into “Xinfa Dili Renhe” (新发地利人和), which means “prosperity, favorable location and harmony between people”. She told People’s Daily Online that Xinfadi is the right place to set up her business, as its favorable policies and rigid anti-pandemic measures have eliminated the negative impacts on her business, while the vendor’s joint efforts to tackle the pandemic have ensured a promising future for both the market and her own business.
“There are many difficulties in life, and the pandemic can count among them. It is important that we never give up hope, and it is crucial that when problems arise we stick together,” said Wang.
According to Wang, after the pandemic, she worked much harder to get her business back on track, hoping that her endeavors could provide a good example for her son, who is going to become a college student next year.
“I want my son to know that his mom, already 43-years-old, is still fighting for a better life. There is no reason for him to not work hard, no reason not to be brave in tackling life’s problems like the pandemic,” said Wang.
“The pandemic has shown me how efficient and capable the government is and how united and selfless the Chinese people are. If we can take the lead in tackling the pandemic, what else won’t we be able to achieve? I have confidence in China’s future, in my future,” she added.
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