The beginning of 2020 seems particularly difficult. Regardless of the company, everyone is faltering under the pressure of the epidemic. During his inspection tour in Yantai, Shandong Province, Premier Li said: The stall economy and the small shop economy are fireworks in the world, and like "tall and tall", they are China's vitality. At this point, the "stall economy" instantly rushed to the hot search. Did you set up a stall today? It also seems to have become a meme that acquaintances can't get by when they meet.
Image source: Petals
One day, I walked through the bustling crowd of the night market with friends, looked at the dazzling array in front of me, and suddenly remembered the déjà vu of somewhere on the other side of eurasia. Yes, maybe those who pass by are no longer blonde and blue-eyed, and the objects you hold in your hands are not the same, but this human fireworks is the most touching to the hearts of mortals. The tall buildings are majestic, the clouds are misty, and the most intoxicating thing is just a corner of the city.
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If you want to talk about German stalls, you may not be able to say anything about it. But if you want to understand the German flea market, you can talk about it in detail. The origin of the "flea market" is no longer known, but the general view is that it originated in France. It is said that since the late Middle Ages, some traders in France have begun to buy old clothes and old daily necessities for their own use or sell to the poor. Due to the poor sanitary conditions at that time, a large number of fleas were often present in these old objects. Even at the end of the 19th century, when the Parisian government began to pay attention to sanitation and urban amenity construction, and transferred these old goods trade to abandoned vacant land on the outskirts of Paris, there were still many fleas in the stalls. Hence the phrase "flea market" comes from this.
Although the flea market originated in France, it was developed in Germany. In Today's Germany, the flea market has become one of the most indisputable traditions. Whether it's a big city like Frankfurt, Berlin, Munich, or a small town with only a few thousand people, there are flea markets at regular times. I love them, and every time I pass by a city, I inquire about their whereabouts and set aside a weekend for them.
My association with the flea market was due to a friend of mine who loves old things. One day he felt that the Winter Days in Germany were extremely cold for a short time, and invited me to taste the german fire tongs wine. He took out a copper pot specially made for fire tongs and boiled the wine with spices such as cinnamon sticks, cloves, star anise and orange peel. A special iron piece is placed on the pot, and a pagoda-shaped sugar block soaked in rum is placed, and it is lit, and the sugar is slowly melted into the wine with a flame.
The copper pot of fire tongs and the iron sheet used to burn sugar, in the tone of my friends' ostentatious tone, I learned that they were all bought from the flea market, at least for nearly a hundred years. Time has polished the shining metal vessels into a dark red copper color, and some parts of the copper pot still have traces of repair, which seem to be somewhat mottled. But that day, in the dim living room on a winter afternoon, I watched the pale blue flames slowly sink into the tumbling wine with the melting sugar, and the sweet aroma of wine in the air seemed to disappear for a moment. Through the faint light of the fire, I looked at my friend's living room filled with complicated "antiques", and suddenly understood my friend's old fetishes, and deep inside I even had a faint sense of regret that the past could not be traced. Since then, it has embarked on the road of no return to visit the flea market.
The flea market is wonderful not only because of the variety of objects it has, but also because it has different people telling you different stories. I remember one day at a flea market in a small town, a young woman who was selling groceries was taking her young daughter with her. The blonde girl is as beautiful as a doll, but she holds an old teddy bear doll in her hand. The gold buckle of the doll bear's left ear has long since disappeared, and a closer look at the bear even carries a little scorch marks and stains. But this is a non-sale product.
It turned out that the teddy bear was a memorial left by her grandmother to the stall owners, and it was never lost even in World War II. The teddy bear was the most tender guardian left by her great-grandparents to her grandmother, devouring the fears and cries of her childhood, the joys and sorrows of her youth, and the loneliness of old age. But it never grew old and continued to guard the family.
Embracing this tender clutter that I looked around at the small stall, it seemed that every object was covered with a layer of old days. Did the prince of the wooden nutcotch also step into the little girl's dream at night, fight off the nightmare for her, and take her to the candy kingdom? Whether the glass Christmas tree hanging lamp used its light in the dark night to soothe her and dispel her hesitation. Those items in the flea market are feelings, and the items sold are also feelings.
The journey to the flea market is like an adventure, you don't know what you will encounter, the only thing that is certain is that the objects stay there, carrying all the past of the original owner, watching the people coming and going, waiting to meet again.
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I have also witnessed a friend pick out a repaired porcelain bowl in a pile of gorgeous Meissen porcelain, but like a child, he danced happily and excitedly introduced to me: it was a porcelain bowl produced by a Ming Dynasty folk kiln, although it had been broken, but it was also tightly sewn by a Chinese folk craftsman holding a diamond diamond and riveted.
Curium repair process Image source: https://www.sohu.com/a/270408122_501336
He proudly introduced to the German stall owner that this was a unique curium repair process in China, and suddenly felt the sourness in me and his heart. Although this piece of porcelain does not hit the eye, but what kind of tribulations it has experienced, it has fallen to Sisi. But at this point, he knew that this porcelain bowl was still placed in the seemingly disorganized living room of his friend. Although it has been through ups and downs, it is a destination after all.
The flea market always heals people's hearts, and like a museum, it not only freezes the years, it is like different people selling the memories of each corner of the city. I've seen the broken bricks of the wall at berlin's flea market, with the incomplete graffiti on it, and in the mess I seem to see lines that want to break through the shackles, and reagan's politically dramatic "Mr. Gorbachev, open this door!" Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall! " call.
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I have also seen the medal of the reunification of East and West Germany, and whether it is true, history seems to be replayed at this moment: the last Chancellor of East Germany, Hans Modro, greeted The West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl on the east side of the Brandenburg Gate, and the Brandenburg Gate has since been opened.
The old things in the flea market have witnessed too many moments, accumulating thick years on their bodies.
So the flea market is too good for me. Stepping on Europe's characteristic cobblestone roads, the sun dappled among the shadows of the trees, you can either look at the old objects that exude the old days in the hustle and bustle, and bring back a period of time when you occasionally have gains; or buy a cup of coffee at the stall, watch the crowds or hang out or stop, see history flowing under their feet, and inadvertently condense into a unique Mark of Germany.
The years have become very long here, and there is idleness and ease hidden in the crowd. It is also a habitat, a collection of old days, allowing the soul to rest. It's even a time machine that gives us a glimpse into another world parallel to where we live.