The Qingping Market

The Qingping Market Review

The Qingping Market has undergone a few changes over the past few years; the sprawling cluster of stalls was once infamous for its wet market, a hotbed of animal slaughter. Though it always had a good selection of general knickknacks, as well as a large section of goods of various apothecarial value (ginseng, fungi, and herbs, as well as more cruelly obtained items like bear bile and essence of tiger prostate), the wet market scared all but the heartiest visitors away. Following SARS, the government decided to do away with the bloodier, less hygienic stalls. A large section of the old market was been cleared away to make room for a shiny new mall-like structure with stalls dedicated to sales of traditional medicines. The funkier and older outdoor section of the market still exists off to one side, but for the most part items on sale are of the flora and not the fauna variety. Merchants of tiger claws and bear bile are still engaged in their cruel trade on the base of the bridge leading to Shamian Island. Even though most of these merchants are dressed Tibetan style (perhaps to engender the sympathy of foreigners?) the majority of them are Han Chinese engaged in a despicable trade.