Zhuang Yuan Fang is a popular shopping street for youths in Guangzhou, mainly for fashion goods. I do not know about its history, but when I was inside it observing its shops and crowds of Chinese young people doing there shopping, I thought that it was a good example for hybridization, as the goods and the shopping styles there are like a mixture of many cultures both Western and Asian, and of course, has some uniquely characteristics of Chinese. Chinese youths have opened themselves to accept many styles in the world, accommodated them to Chinese context or mixed them so that something new comes to existence. 'When a truly Chinese style finally emerge, it will most likely be a hybrid of various Asian and Western influences, and it could in turn influence the rest of the world' (LiAnne Yu et al, 2007, p64 in 'China's New Culture of Cool-Understanding the world's fastest growing market')
Like young people around the world, the youths of China take shopping as there number one hobby, but they do that in their own way. Their stylish fashion can be a combination of Western jeans and boots, Japanese skirts and Korean made-up styles, which were all made more colorful. The majority of middle-class youths cannot afford luxurious shopping malls, but they can still hunt for latest clothes and styles in Zhuang Yuan Fang, a small alley with old houses now accommodating modern small shops along its sides. The goods offered there are fake branded goods, copied the style from the real ones from other countries but locally made in China. Young people happily wandered around the streets, getting all sorts of fashion in the world they like under Chinese fake version. When they are tired, they can take a snack in the McDonalds’, which offer only desserts and drinks there, or buying from street vendors boiled corns or Chinese sweet soups. To me, Zhuang Yuan Fang is a hybrid shopping space, with hybrid goods and hybrid styles of Chinese and various cultures in the world.
Pham Tran Thu Nga
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