Putian, Fujian Province, was once nicknamed the "City of Fake Shoes" because of its large-scale production of counterfeit brand-name sports shoes. To this day, despite repeated crackdowns by the local government, counterfeit shoes are still banned repeatedly. Near the Anfu E-commerce Mall in the north of Putian City, the shops are closed during the day and there are few people. At night, the lights are bright, the crowds are crowded, and the traffic is constant. Almost everyone lowers their voices to communicate, pay money, and get goods. Several streets nearby There are even frequent traffic jams, so this place is called "Night Bliss". A busy ghost market that stays up day and night

The problem of fake shoes in Putian has been around for a long time.

Putian has never stopped cracking down on counterfeit shoes. A search of public reports revealed that in May last year, the Putian City Public Security Bureau destroyed four black shoe factories, involving Adidas, Nike, etc. The total case value of counterfeit shoes of well-known brands is as high as 10 million yuan; in November 2014, under the command of the Ministry of Public Security and the Fujian Provincial Public Security Department, Putian police collaborated with police from many places to destroy 10 counterfeit manufacturing and selling dens, involving a total value of more than 350 million yuan. ...

In addition to crackdowns, the local area is also looking for ways to transform. According to media reports, in April 2015, Putian Mayor Weng Yuyao even personally endorsed Putian shoes, saying that Putian people would use international standards to make good Chinese shoes. In order to help enterprises transform and upgrade, relevant departments of the Putian Municipal Government have also worked with commercial banks to provide billions of credit support to transforming enterprises.

But to this day, fake shoes are still not banned in Putian. No one knows how many people in Putian are engaged in industries related to the production and sale of fake shoes and make a living from it. They stay up day and night. , affecting the city's daily routine to some extent.

During the visit, a reporter from Beiqing Daily found that the area near Anfu E-commerce Mall has become a major trading area for imitation brand-name sports shoes. It seems to be a secret entrance to the city of Putian, leading to a place with counterfeit shoes. Brand-name shoe-related industries.

When the reporter arrived near Anfu E-commerce Mall in the morning, there were only a few people and few vehicles on the street. Few shops on the roadside were open, and only a few restaurants and canteens were open. People in this city have long been accustomed to this, "You can come and see it after 9 pm. It is definitely a different world and there will be traffic jams."

After 9 pm, the station On the street near Anfu E-commerce Mall, countless motorcycles and electric vehicles seemed to be gathering towards the mall. They were whizzing by on the road wearing helmets. Shops that had been closed during the day opened one after another, and there were gradually more and more people near the e-commerce mall. The contrast between the lively scene in front of them and the deserted scene during the day made it difficult to imagine that this was the same place. The air was filled with the pungent smell of gasoline. Motorcycles kept honking their horns and weaving in and out of the crowds of people and traffic. The road was crowded with people, and people were constantly crossing the road. The speed of the cars also began to slow down, and the streets gradually slowed down. Traffic jam begins. A 63-year-old old lady took customers to buy shoes until two o'clock in the morning

"Morning? We don't have morning. We wake up at noon." A post-95s seller talked about the fake shoes everywhere, with a smile on his face. At this time, it was 1 o'clock in the morning, 3 hours before he finished work.

The word "China" added in front of "Anfu E-Mall" not far away is declaring its ambition. Official data from 2015 shows that this community with a total area of ??more than 800,000 square meters is home to 335 listed merchants, with an annual transaction volume of over 10 billion yuan, more than 200,000 Internet users, and online sales of shoe products accounting for at least 20% of the country's total. .

Go to bed in the morning, take orders in the afternoon, and receive and ship goods at night - the unique trading habits have given rise to the "ghost market": during the day, there is almost no one; in the evening, stores open sporadically; at night, motorcycles, Vans come and go, sometimes hundreds of them pass in a minute. The packaging loaded and unloaded from the car is printed with famous shoe trademarks such as Nike.

But among the people, this kind of "living in the day and coming out at night" is interpreted as "not seeing the light". Officials have not disclosed the proportion of high imitation shoes here.

On the 7th floor of Building 26 in the e-commerce mall, a man in yellow danced and told a reporter from China Youth Daily and China Youth Online about his "history of struggle." "I started working in 2013, and now I own a car and a house." He does not shy away from the fact that these are high-imitation shoes, and the annual turnover has reached 4 million yuan. One of his friends even made 4 million yuan in one day during the "Double 11" last year.

Another man in a suit opened a "stall" next to the "Ghost Market" express delivery area. He posted on the forum, left QQ, and showed off his inventory.

A netizen asked him "How much is the real thing compared to fake?" He bluntly said that it was all fake, but "fake the real thing, experience it once, and never forget it for the rest of your life."

They have "mysterious confidence" in the quality of fake shoes. Lu Shen, a female college student in Putian who lives near the "ghost market", witnessed how the place became popular step by step, and then joined the e-commerce ocean to "sell fakes." She has been doing this for three years, earning 20 to 30 yuan per pair of shoes, and she can sell up to 30 pairs a day. "The quality is really good. I can buy a pair and wear it for a year."

Everyone attributes this to Putian’s international famous shoe OEM industry in the last century: during the day, people were busy producing in the factory, benchmarking against the world’s top shoemaking technology; at night, they went home to “use their waste heat”, The "secret recipe" for shoemaking was either stolen or bought.

These are undoubtedly fakes, but people in the "ghost market" avoid the word "fake". They invented their own discourse system, "genuine standard", "high imitation" and "1:1", and the counterfeiters are called "Amao".

Relatively "real" are various independent brands - for example, someone added a few numbers or letters to the American "NB" New Balance and obtained a trademark registration. Outside, some people call them "shanzhai", but in the "ghost market", they have a subtle name - "edge shoes".

Although the "ghost market" has become increasingly depressed due to the multiple impacts of the crackdown on industry and commerce, e-commerce platforms, and industry depression, today, there are sometimes traffic jams at the market intersection at 10 p.m. for two to three minutes.

Some people wander around the e-commerce mall, targeting seemingly aimless "tourists", handing out small cards and asking if they want to buy shoes. At 1 o'clock in the morning on January 7, a 63-year-old old lady who was visiting a shopping mall with reporters was not sleepy at all. "I will take you to the next store, which is upstairs," she said energetically, "I I don’t get off work until after two o’clock.”

People in the local shoe industry slowly discovered that the situation was not good: there were more and more footwear e-commerce companies across the country, and competition intensified; at the same time, the price of raw materials for shoemaking had risen from 10,000 yuan per ton in about a year. To 20,000 yuan, the profits are getting thinner and thinner.

Lv Shen finally stopped selling shoes, and she abandoned the "ghost market". Cheng Xiang also felt that winter was coming - his orders became increasingly pitiful, sometimes only one or two pairs a day. Six months ago, he switched to transportation and was eliminated from the "ghost market".

But there will always be people hoping to flock to this "sieged city". An "Amao" who "washed his hands in a golden basin" six years ago confessed to reporters: At one time, he responded to the government's call to make his own brand, but shoes made on the same production line with a name brand could sell for 500 yuan, and his brand It only costs 150 yuan, but it still can’t be sold.

Sitting at the tea table, he looked desperate. After thinking about it, he handed over his phone and saw a red brand-name shoe on the screen. The businessman, who has lost hundreds of thousands of yuan, said that he spent 200,000 yuan and recently found someone to "open the door" again.

Having not done "Amao" in 6 years, he is now trying to return to the "ghost market" and try again.