Pulse

Odds and ends are more than just nostalgia

By Laura Morgan (China Daily)
Updated: 2011-04-25 07:59

Vintage is becoming the name of the game in the Gulou area with a host of vintage stores selling mostly retro clothes and items from the 1970s and 1980s springing up on the back of Beijing's music scene.

Many of the vintage storeowners in the area are major figures in Beijing's underground music scene, and that has certainly helped promote the idea that retro is cool among younger Chinese buyers.

However, unlike the other vintage stores in the area, The Big 8s, the latest addition located in the sleepy hutong of Beiluoguxiang, focuses more on simple homeware and gadgets from the past rather than clothes, and is owned by Spaniard Nuria Cimini and her Hong Kong-born boyfriend Damon Yau.

"Since we opened this shop local people are always stopping by because they are curious," said Barcelona native Cimini. "They have lots of similar things in their houses, but didn't imagine that people would be interested in them."

Cimini and Yau scour the markets near and far for intersting items from past eras, breathing life back into the treasures they find.

Inside the shop, antique wooden cabinets house painted enamel bowls, delicate porcelain tea sets and jewelry boxes among an assortment of lamps and portable record players.

Though modest in size, the shop is chock-full of gems. The vintage bric-a-brac continues throughout the store with shelves overflowing with candy-colored toys from the 1980s, aviator goggles and sturdy Seagull radios from the 1950s. There are also vintage Western frocks, bags and accessories courtesy of online shop Rose Mansion.

In the back room Cimini and Yau are sitting on a vintage sofa in the corner of the room, next to an elegant Shanghai dresser.

"With vintage items it's kind of different in China," said Yau. "Many people think that secondhand things are no good."

Although vintage culture has flourished in Western countries, Chinese people on the whole have yet to succumb to the appeal of what are effectively old-fashioned and used goods. Secondhand or vintage items, unless extravagant antiques from past dynasties, hold little value in modern day China.

However, there are also those nostalgic for the past as China rushes head long into the future.

"Some people come and tell us they also had this stuff when they were young and they're happy to see this stuff again," explained Yau.

Making the most of the sunny weather, Cimini and Yau will be donning their shades and selling their wares outdoors at festivals and outdoor markets throughout the summer.

The next hutong market is scheduled to take place on the second weekend of May (the 7th - 8th) outside the store, and the duo will also be selling homemade cookies and ice cold Sangria.

China Daily

Spaniard Nuria Cimini (left) and her boyfriend Damon Yau, owners of vintage store The Big 8s, bring the past back to life in the Gulou area. Laura Morgan / For China Daily

(China Daily 04/25/2011)