It's hard to keep a good market down

When I went out the other night, I was shocked to discover that the night market had been shut down. This was a huge market lining the sidewalk on the main street in front of the campus. It went on for many blocks and anything could be found there. Adidas clothing, Nike shoes, IPod Nanos, batteries, cactus, bowls, underwear, puppies, turtles, food of all descriptions, vegomatics, cell phones, bras, lamps, etc. Of course, the sidewalk is very narrow, and very crowded at the best of times, so the market made walking pretty impossible. Many people walked in the street, which made it more dangerous than usual, and difficult for cars to get by since there are only two lanes and many cars, bikes, motorbikes, etc. Apparently, the vendors were out every single night, no matter how cold and most people had the same spots every night. It was definitely crowded, but really convenient for students. I suspect that over time, people will gradually come back to sell and the market will slowly reform again until it gets big enough to attract attention.

Maybe not, though. When I went out for a walk tonight, there were 30 or more police cars and motorcycles and more police on foot, along with a huge crowd, standing in an area where the market used to be. Of course the police were all parked on the sidewalk. I can't imagine there was any concern about public safety. Even if I spoke fluent Chinese, I think it would be hard to know what is really going on.

In any case, I noticed one of the side streets that I often use as a shortcut to the dormitory had many more vendors than usual tonight, and I recognized several from the night market. Maybe the reforming has already begun...