Expats at full speed on South Korean street
Hongquan Road appeals to South Koreans and locals seeking Korean products and culture.
Hongquan Road in Minhang District has become a second home for South Korean expatriates over the past three decades.
The 1,000-meter-long road is a microcosm of the South Korean society, noted for its hundreds of fashionable boutiques and eateries.
The road, better known as Korean Street, is frequented not only by South Koreans living in nearby neighborhoods, but also by quite a few Shanghai residents who are fascinated with Korean culture.
As for its origin, some expats recall that when they first moved to Shanghai, they tended to visit places with more fellow countrymen and Hongquan Road turned into a place they knew most.
They started to run business here or chose to settle down with their family, which has made the road a mark of Minhang's globalization process.
When night falls, the road turns to hustle and bustle amid the glitz and glitter of the neon lights.
Kim Hee-won, a trader of brand clothes from South Korea on the second floor of the Jingting Building on Hongquan Road, recalled her vivid memories from when she first came here.
"I've been staying in China for 18 years, but it seems like yesterday," said Kim.
The Seoul night fair
In 2004 Kim started to work in HAMIL's Shanghai branch.
"I walked past Hongquan Road and saw construction of Jingting Building was ongoing," said Kim.
At that time K-pop was sweeping across the world as well as in China, with its Korean dramas, and later fashion clothes, cuisines and cosmetics.
"I started with discount stores selling South Korean brand clothes," Kim said. "Hongqiao Town where I am living has a cluster of South Korean neighborhoods."
In early 1990s a surge of joint-venture companies popped up in Hongqiao Town, where Hongquan Road is located.
"At first there were those Taiwan-invested companies," said Hui Yunlian, chairman of the board of Shanghai Jingting Industrial Co. "Later South Korea-invested companies, like E-Land, Lock&Lock and Nong Shim, accounted for the majority of the joint ventures. A large group of expatriate staff of those South Korean companies came to live in Hongqiao Town."
As overseas investment poured in, the local economy revitalized. Around 2000, the Hongquan Road commercial and entertainment street earned its name, as facilities like Jingting Building, Jingting Tiandi Life Plaza, Fortune Hongqiao Airport Hotel and Dijing Hotel were built.
In November 2007 Kim opened her discount store selling South Korean brand clothes in Jingting Building. Some brands cooperated with her, but the clothes were mainly commodity stocks that failed to represent current trends.
Kim trudged through her early operation stage for one year. The 2008 global financial crisis became the last straw that thwarted her initial entrepreneurship.
"The discount store failed in its operation goal," she said. "Then I changed strategy to sell the Seoul Dongdaemun wholesale women's dress and some popular South Korean children's clothes."
A South Korean restaurant
Her first 10 special sales counters won good customer feedback. Then she introduced more children's brands including ALLO&LUGH and TWINKIDS through sales events and exhibitions, and her Korean clothes store gradually earned its reputation and the number of her sales counters rose to 45.
Through her years as a clothes trader in China, Kim is touched by people's interest in South Korean culture, while trying her best to run the business well.
To survive several operation crisis, she had to sell two apartments she had bought when she firstly arrived in Shanghai.
"Formerly all those sales counters were run by South Korean managers," said Kim. "Now quite a few Chinese managers joined in. We now have 45 sales counters selling South Korean clothes, cosmetics, jewelry, bedding, shoes and everyday use.
"I'm a salesperson. I also hope I can introduce South Korean culture to my customers through my store. I'm not a diplomat, but I hope I can contribute to the friendship between the two countries. I hope my store on Hongquan Road can become a folk diplomacy promotion site."
Though affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, above 80 percent of the sales counter managers chose to renew their contracts.
Kim, who first arrived in China at the age of 36, said she hoped she can work in Minhang till she is 88.
As for the district's Hongquan Road, it is welcoming more South Koreans and people from other countries to find their niches here.
