wrestling hawking , 1996
Unknown

In October 1996, on the way from Beijing to Qinhuangdao, there was a small station called "Wall Road", where the train stopped for only five minutes. Without a platform, local villagers hold up poles and sell local products to tourists. In the middle of the 1990s, under the background of "one billion people and 900 million merchants", this strange way of hawking invented by farmers in remote mountain villages has become a unique landscape. The Chinese government adopted the motto "One billion people, 900 million businessmen" in the mid-1990s, indicating their goal of promoting a market economy and making everyone a businessperson. After the reform and opening up, rural areas are among those in need of growth the most since they lack market expertise and economic launching sites. In this context, farmers in remote mountain villages invented a special way of hawking through their own wisdom, known as "wrestling hawking"(摔跤叫卖). This method of selling has drawn notice for being distinctive and is even regarded as a component of rural folk culture. It depicts the bravery and inventiveness of Chinese farmers as well as the challenging process of Chinese society's shift from a planned to a market economy. The story of wrestling hawking turned into a minor yet significant historical event throughout China's modernization process.

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