The old curiosity shop: there are many here
(China Daily)
Updated: 2006-03-02 05:37

They meet in darkness, usually from 4 am on Saturdays and Sundays.

Holding torches, they browse through the piles of pottery and jadeite, bronze and wooden articles spread out on the dirt.

They even poke into the cheap plastic bags brought by hawkers who have had little time to sort out everything.

Because they keep quiet most of the time and walk slowly by torchlight, they've earned the nickname "the ghosts of Beijing."

They are some of Beijing's most serious antiques lovers. And when the sun rises and large crowds of people start flocking in around 7 am, they're gone.

By 9 am, the semi-covered market is humming with hawkers and shoppers seeking everything from Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasty vases to old gramophones and clocks, stone Buddhas and second-hand books.

With an air more exotic than that of perhaps any other one in China and perhaps Asia, the Panjiayuan Curio Market is a fascinating destination for those who want to spend a pleasant weekend morning or afternoon wandering around, browsing and haggling.

"Panjiayuan never disappoints anyone," said Song Zhaolin, a researcher at the National Museum of China and a pre-dawn shopper at the market.

"Whatever your heart desires from any part of the Middle Kingdom would probably be found here, from village embroidery to Yixing teapots and Tibetan rugs."

Besides the variety of the curios, their low price is also an attraction. Many hawkers are farmers from the countryside who sell items collected in their villages.

From 4 am to 4:30 pm on Saturdays and Sundays, Panjiayuan may be the largest curio market of its kind in Asia.

The rest of the week, it wears another personality that of one of the largest markets of vegetables and meat in the country.

Located on the west side of Panjiayuan Bridge along the southern part of East Third Ring Road, it occupies more than 3 hectares in a rather ritzy district.

Moreover, the whole neighbourhood has been somewhat transformed, in an unnoticed way, into a super-sized "Panjiayuan."