By Wang Mingfeng
As noon approached on May 30, Kuixinglou Street, a popular food street in Chengdu,
capital of Southwest China’s Sichuan Province, gradually got busy.
People who came to look for a nice meal and tourists with luggage strolled along the
street stopped from time to time in front of restaurants and shops to check their daily
specials.
The street, which was hit hard by the COVID-19 epidemic, has been brought back to
life by shouts of shop owners as well as laughter and cheerful talks.
“Would you prefer to eat in or outside the dining hall?” He Xu, owner of a restaurant,
greeted customers at the door with a menu in his hand.
The restaurant set six simple tables near the sidewalk, which was newly allowed by
the local government in a bid to help business owners quickly restore business, said
He, who wore a face mask and an apron, standing at the door of the restaurant to
invite passersby to eat in the place.
According to requirements for epidemic prevention and control, diners must keep a
safe distance from each other, and the occupancy rate of the restaurant shall not
exceed 50 percent, He noted.
“We reopened on March 9, and our daily turnover only stood between 2,000 (about
$281) and 3,000 yuan (about $423) during the first several days, which was less than
one ninth of our previous daily business volume before the epidemic. Now the figure
has finally reached two thirds of what we had before,” He said.
A malatang (similar to hot pot) restaurant located a few steps away from He’s
restaurant is doing well, too. It just added 15 more tables to its outdoor dining area.
“We called 15 of our staff members back to help, which is a win-win result, as they
also get to earn income again,” said the owner of the restaurant.
In an effort to boost economy, Chengdu started to allow shop owners, street vendors,
and shopping malls to set up temporary roadside stalls, booths, and business areas to
enhance sales on the premise that firefighting access and blind sidewalks are not
occupied and no one’s interests and rights are violated.
Following the principle of flexible management under prudent and tolerant
supervision, Chengdu makes education and persuasion the main measure to deal with
minor infractions.
These policies and measures have led to significantly positive effects on stimulating
consumption and have been widely welcomed.
Since epidemic prevention and control measures to contain COVID-19 became
normalized, city management bureau of Wuhou district set up 20 shared roadside
stalls between subway entrance and business district in Cujin subdistrict, and offered
the stalls to residents who need them.
Under a timeshare model, each stall operator can use their respective spot at a
different time of the day.
The bureau has created a detailed mechanism for the use of these roadside stalls. The
mechanism, which specifies access and exit rules for stall operators, gives preference
to impoverished households in granting access to the stalls and would punish those
who disobey relevant rules and regulations.
Stall operators are required to carry with them their own trash can and clean up their
respective spot after the end of business every day. Besides, all operators are not
allowed to use loudspeaker or any other tools that could disturb residents living
nearby.
Ran Yifu, a post-70s vendor from Ziyang, Sichuan province, shares a stall with Li
Jian, a post-80s man from Jintang county of Chengdu.
Ran sells breakfast at the stall from 7:00 am to 11:00 am, and Li uses the spot to sell
snacks after 11:00 am every day.
When time draws near 11:00 am, Ran packs up the plastic mat on the ground and
cleans up the space before handing it over to Li.
“I sell more than 100 Gongpobing (a traditional pastry) and dozens of steamed
dumplings every day, which means several hundred yuan of income for me,” Ran
said.
Li used to work as a security guard in Chengdu Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone.
He lost his job because of the COVID-19 outbreak.
“Living costs for my family of five are quite a lot of money every month, so I applied
for the access to the stall immediately after I heard of the opportunity. I use the stall to
sell roast squid,” explained Li, while laying the ground mat he brought and preparing
tableware, getting ready to receive customers.
“I have just started the business a week ago. I make over 300 yuan ($42) every day.
Since I started to have stable income, I’ve been able to sleep tight at night,” Li said.
Chengdu had set up 2,230 temporary roadside stalls, booths, and business areas,
allowed 17,147 temporary operation spots of shop owners and shopping malls, and
permitted 20,130 mobile stalls and booths run by street vendors as of May 28.
The efforts had provided jobs for more than 100,000 people.
