At the end of p>219, Shuangta Market in gusu district, Suzhou became a landmark of "online celebrity". It was transformed from an old traditional farmer's market into a life market for all ages. Its high-value appearance and complex and diverse formats brought high popularity and activated the new life of the ancient city. The Paper reporter visited recently to see what's new in it.

Interior of Shuangta Market Fresh Food Zone The pictures in this article are all taken by The Paper reporter Zhu Zhe (except the signature)

From Pingjiang Road, which is famous all over the world, there is a Dinghui Temple Lane, with granite archway at the entrance, local chronicles introduction board and antique buildings on both sides, all telling the long history of the ancient city. In the lane, there are the famous twin towers of Luohanyuan, which represent the achievements of architecture and stone carving in the Tang and Song Dynasties. Further, you will reach the twin towers market named after it-it has been called Twin Towers Food Market for more than 2 years, an ordinary farmer's market serving the surrounding people.

Screenshot of the program "Dream Renovater" at the entrance and interior of Shuangta Vegetable Farm before renovation

With the aging and relocation of surrounding residents, the strong impact of e-commerce and supermarkets, the farmers' market is facing a crisis of development and survival. At the same time, under the background of the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta, gusu district, as an ancient city with a history of 2,5 years, is also facing a big issue of rejuvenation.

Under the double challenges, Suzhou Municipal Committee, Gusu District Committee and other units and departments at all levels cooperated and decided to start with the food market that is most closely related to people's livelihood and make an innovation. Zhu Jun, chairman of Suzhou Historical and Cultural City Construction Group, who undertook the project of the Twin Towers Market, told The Paper, "From April last year, planning started, construction was closed in August and business resumed in December, there were many challenges in time, manpower and material resources, but we firmly believe that by taking the road of revival of the ancient city well, we can bring" new "and" prosperity ".

Wandering around the transformed Twin Towers Market, you can know where it is "new" by sensory experience. The 2,31 square meters in front of us has become a brand-new complex format space, which integrates the functions of shopping, catering, entertainment, study and leisure, and each functional area embodies the integration of tradition and fashion. The design and renovation of the brand-new Twin Towers Market were recorded in the series of "Dream Transformers" of Shanghai Oriental TV. Shen Lei, a well-known designer, demolished the original wall of the food market, and the entrance of the market was changed from three to seven. The original facade was demolished and retreated, leaving enough mobile space in the streets and cities, which can accommodate more people to wander around here.

Screenshot of the program "Dream Renovater"

The fresh food area is located on the north side of the market, and the designer changed the storage display from the original tiled to stacked, which increased the space utilization and visual beauty. There is also a special "Food Market Daily" on the wall to introduce market information.

group map of lively fresh food area

The products in the area are planned and laid out according to categories, and at the same time, according to the drainage and pollution discharge of vegetables, aquatic products, eggs and other different functions, the corresponding decontamination system is planned. Jia Zijun, the person in charge of the Twin Towers Market Project and the "post-8s generation" in Suzhou, said in an interview that on the basis of keeping the rent and vegetable prices unchanged, more than 6 vendors who originally operated in the old food market have moved back to the new market. Since the reopening on December 17th, the average daily turnover of basically every vendor has increased substantially.

Aunt Chen Mingyue, the proprietress who has been running the tea business in Shuangta for more than 2 years, told reporters: "We never thought that we could sell vegetables and buy food in such a beautiful and clean environment. Now we have snacks and coffee. It's so happy!" Aunt Chen, who has a glib tongue, is an excellent vendor representative, and her image has also been used in the specially designed humanoid signboard of the opening art exhibition. "This is so fashionable, it is a new thing for you young people!"

Aunt Chen Mingyue, who sells tea, took a group photo with her artistic image

Walking in different stalls in the fresh food area, you can see the stall owners smiling everywhere, listening to them recommend fresh ingredients to guests in authentic Suzhou dialect, and they will sincerely introduce the eating custom of "not eating from time to time" to foreign guests. The scene is cordial and warm.

Happy vendors

The newly-added snack area is located on the south side of the market, and the shops are designed into triangles, which greatly increases the space utilization rate and realizes the function of people eating after buying.

Market snack area

This time, snacks with Suzhou local characteristics were specially introduced, such as Chen Laoda plum blossom cake, Haitang cake, red bean dumplings, sugar porridge, Su-style noodles and wonton, which are listed in Suzhou intangible cultural heritage.

Mrs. Chen, the inheritor of Chen Laoda's plum blossom cake, and the market snack collection

There is also a small stage for performance in the corner, and then there will be different cultural performances on weekends and holidays, which will push the lively index of the scene to a higher point.

there is an electronic screen near the entrance of the snack area, which shows the advanced "smart farmer's trade" system at present. By collecting the total number of real-time passengers in the market, the number of transactions in the current day and the previous week, the transaction amount, the top six transaction stalls and other data, it has become an important reference index for the scientific digital management of the market, and transparent and open information also allows visitors to understand the operation of the market.

the display screen of "Smart Farmers" in the Twin Towers Market

Another new meaning of the Twin Towers is the Suzhou cultural elements that have been revitalized. The logo and shop signs of the Twin Towers are all new ideas created by designer Zhao Qing, who rearranged Suzhou code, a commercial figure in ancient Suzhou, with calligraphy glyphs. The signboard of the snack area uses the peach red and willow green of Suzhou Taohuawu New Year pictures as the background color, with the snack names from Suzhou dialect.

The logo of the twin towers, the Taohuawu New Year pictures and the signboard of the snack area composed of Suzhou dialect

What is moving is the background soundtrack of the market, which is a euphemistic and moving Suzhou Pingtan. On the day of the interview, the reporter met Pang Xi, the designer responsible for the overall display and soft decoration of the market. He especially introduced the farm products such as hemp fiber and fish baskets that can be seen everywhere.

Pang Xi is in the Twin Towers Market

"The fruits, vegetables and knitting utensils on the wall reflect the emotional appeal of farmers in the south of the Yangtze River, and I hope visitors can feel this emotional situation and restore the real life," Pang Xi explained.

the decoration of peasant life situation on the wall

The rattan chair in the snack area is also a representative of the style of Gusu. Pang Xi said that at that time, they found local craftsmen in Taohuawu and finalized the basic style. However, considering the high-frequency use in public occasions, they decided to replace the bottom frame of the rattan chair with a wooden frame and made subsequent reinforcement. The black and white characters in the food market vividly tell the seasonal food customs of the 24 solar terms, which was written by a professional designer. All the shops along the street use old plaques, and the mottled cracks reveal the traces of time. Their reuse is also a rebirth of old things.

Signboards along the street are all made of old plaques.

Tailor shops, key shops, grocery stores and teahouses along the street have been transformed by four designers, Lai Xudong, Sun Huafeng, Bin Chen and Xie Ke, all of which are brand-new and orderly displayed, and now they also attract young people to watch and take pictures.

The tailors' shops, key shops and grocery stores are also crowded.

In the outdoor riverside area, the 24-hour bookstore "1/9 Bookstore" with only 9 square meters is also a new model of intelligent retail bookstores in China. Chu Haifei, the manager of the bookstore and the head of the book selection team, told The Paper that the bookstore will plan book exhibitions with different themes in combination with Suzhou local culture and market format. Focusing on "Edible Books", the opening exhibition introduced food stories and picture books from all over the world, invited artists to specially make exhibition models with related themes, and designed unique commemorative gifts and surprise book bags.

Chu Haifei and the picture of the interior and exterior of the bookstore

Since its opening, to Chu Haifei's surprise, many old people will come to buy books. They will read them carefully, listen to the introduction of the clerk, and some will give positive opinions.

In addition to the book selection in this volume, the creative organization "What to See", which is committed to promoting the daily life of art, also joined the creative team of Shuangta Market. They planned the first exhibition as a whole, telling the history of Shuangta Market and the story of nobody, and at the same time designed cultural and creative products such as the market New Year calendar, postcards and aprons.

Cultural and Creative Products Exhibition Area of the market

There is a specially designed parking lot and movable activity area in the outdoor riverside area, and flash flash and special theme activities are held irregularly. It is reported that there will be a folk culture and New Year Festival of the Twin Towers market from January 18 to 2, adding Soviet flavor to the Spring Festival of the Year of the Rat.

Xiao Hu and his partner take photos in the market

The Twin Towers Market has successfully built a bridge between the younger generation and the traditional business form, while the whole area of Pingjiang Road in gusu district is being further upgraded and planned. More than 4 old houses on Pingjiang Road will be renovated and given new positioning and functions, and "letting young people come over" is one of the key goals of development.

Outside the market, Wuwangqiao, which was built in the Southern Dynasties and the Five Dynasties, was rebuilt in 198.

Zhu Jun introduced in an interview that the planning team is investigating and analyzing the consumption behavior of young people and the operation mode of corresponding business formats, and actively exploring a new look of the ancient city that is convenient and fashionable, can tell the past to the new generation and attract new forces to contribute to it.