Beijing: The Conditional Rebirth Of A Popular Bazaar (2) — forbes.com

So Sanlitun Yashow’s garment market has just folded, despite of its notorious popularity. It is not alone. One by one, most Beijing’s markets are disappearing, and the same phenomenon is noticeable throughout the country.  All of those closures stem from administrative caveat.  Some for technical reasons, hygiene, or to make room for a public infrastructure project. But in this instance, like earlier in the case of the “Silk market” near the former US Embassy, it is about the local authorities.  As one very good analyst puts it, what is happening is akin to “capturing profit streams from naturally arising entrepreneurial activity and, in the process, strangling it.”  Indeed, the Silk market, which originally functioned as an open air bazaar, were first closed supposedly to combat intellectual piracy. It was then turned into a posh new building commanding much higher rents and which few people now visit.  

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