Young Chinese people flock to the streets to make money

The 2024 Spring Festival is making a lot of money for Sheng Fangyu thanks to a small sidewalk stall.

Before Tet, the 25-year-old woman and her boyfriend opened a stall in Shandong province selling New Year greetings, home decorations and car stickers.

Sheng is not alone, many young Chinese are celebrating the Spring Festival in their own way. Turning to small, flexible, low-cost street stalls is a way to increase income during the holiday.

On the social network Xiaohongshu, many users shared their experiences of opening stalls during the Spring Festival. Keywords such as "earn more than 1,000 yuan (about 3.4 million VND) a day" or "what stall to open to get rich" became popular, attracting much attention.

"I prefer to work for myself and still earn money than to work for someone else," Sheng said. After 11 days of selling, she and her boyfriend earned 2,600 yuan.

A young woman sells New Year's greetings at a street stall in China. Photo: Xiaohongshu — A young woman sells New Year's greetings at a street stall in China. Photo: *Xiaohongshu*

After years of restrictions due to the pandemic, China's "sidewalk economy " is getting a boost from authorities. Today, many cities across the country have expanded permitted business areas, lifting restrictions on traditional shops that want to sell on the sidewalk.

Sichuan province is one of the places that is promoting this business early and sees it as one of the measures to help economic recovery.

In Neijiang City, Sichuan Province, 18-year-old Deng Yuman also opened a lantern stall. "The crowd before the New Year is very large, and people are willing to spend a lot of money during the festival. This is also the reason why I can quickly sell out before New Year's Eve," Deng said.

The freshman explained that she chose to sell lanterns because they are popular with both adults and children. After investing 100 yuan to import 50 lanterns, Deng earned 500 yuan.

Items sold by young people on the streets of China. Photo: Xiaohongshu

Both Sheng and Deng plan to open street stalls during the Spring Festival next year, seeing the potential for growth. They said they will expand their business and innovate their products.

"Managing the stall is still a challenge but it makes me feel comfortable doing a normal job. In every way, working for myself is better," said the 28-year-old.

Minh Phuong (According to SixthTone )

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