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A well-built young girl took off her coat, leaving only a black corset on her upper body. When she rummaged through the pile of clothes to find new clothes, a middle-aged man a few meters away kept her eyes on her. This scene is staged every day in this market. Shops are also inclined to hire beautiful girls who have good temperament and can “wear”-they are shopping guides, and they are also fitting models.

In the atrium square, advertising posters of “Become a celebrity and become a celebrity as a celebrity” are hung, and some shops have posted a “Welcome to Live” A4 paper notice. The forefront of China’s e-commerce business is quietly taking place in the market with the longest history.

Here is the White Horse Clothing Market (hereinafter referred to as the White Horse Market) at No. 16 South Railway Station Road, Guangzhou.

Brother, Golia, Biyin Lefen and other clothing brands, come out from here. Here, it is an important component of the Liuhua Business District in Guangzhou (close to Liuhua Lake Park), a window for reform and opening up, a “city living room”, and a nugget filled with dreams of wealth.

Yi Zhongtian believes that Guangzhou, like Shanghai, is a “city” rather than a “city”. The “city” starts from business and the “city” is built for politics. The White Horse Market has become a miniature of Guangzhou for nearly 30 years.

This is a Guangzhou story, but also a Chinese story.

01. Baima Mountain in Xijiao Village

“Next station, Guangzhou Railway Station … Passengers heading for Guangzhou Railway Station … Baima Clothing Market, please prepare!” Take Metro Line 2 and will arrive at Guangzhou Railway Station (hereinafter referred to as Guangzhou Station) At that time, the subway broadcasts reminders in Mandarin, English, and Cantonese. Multiple exits from the subway station connect to Guangzhou Station, and Exit G leads to Baima Market.

In 1958, the Guangzhou Railway Station construction plan was proposed, and the site was located in the western suburbs of the city, but was later shelved for historical reasons. Construction of the Guangzhou Station began in 1971, and was officially opened in April 1974.

Guangzhou Station is the first stop for many foreigners to set foot in Guangzhou

It is not well known that Guangzhou Railway Station is a special “foreign trade project”. The resumption of work is mainly to meet the needs of the passenger flow of the Canton Fair.

Since 1957, the Canton Fair opened Liuhua Road, Guangzhou, and then relocated several times. In the spring of 1974, it returned to Liuhua Road and opened a new Liuhua Pavilion.

Canton Fair is the engine of Liuhua Business District. Around the Canton Fair Complex, business facilities such as Friendship Theatre, Oriental Hotel, China Hotel, and Liuhua Hotel have been improved, and domestic and foreign politicians and businessmen gathered. The Liuhua Business District, which bears the halo of “Flower Yuyu”, is the “urban living room” in Guangzhou and the window of China’s reform and opening up.

By the 1980s, Hong Kong clothing was all the rage in the Mainland, and Guangzhou Station became a “distribution area” for reselling Hong Kong fashion. The “fathers” were busy setting up booths and selling goods. In 1993, the White Horse Market opened, and the first indoor shopping mall-style clothing wholesale market in mainland China led apparel trading to “operate indoors,” opening a new wave.

Today, many people know the White Horse Market, but they don’t know the “White Horse Mountain”. At that time, Guangzhou Urban Construction and Development Corporation (now Yuexiu Group) obtained the Baima Mountain plot in Xijiao Village opposite Guangzhou Station. There are weeds all over Baima Mountain, and there is only a small farmers’ market.

In 1989, the construction of the White Horse Mountain project began, and a six-story building was completed two years later. Unlike the current meticulous business plan for building a building, there is no consensus about the purpose of the building. Some people suggest selling local products or building a comprehensive shopping mall. Guangzhou Urban Construction always listened to the suggestion of being a wholesale market, because at that time “there were many manufacturers migrating from Hong Kong and Macau to Guangzhou. There was an advantage of being close to Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, and the whole country went south to Guangzhou to get goods.”

On January 8, 1993, one year after the chief architect of the reform and opening up tour to the south, White Horse Market with a building area of ​​60,000 square meters and 2,000 stores opened its doors.