Good morning Anshan : tangible and intangible cultural heritage of morning markets in Anshan city, Liaoning province : the cases of Daguan market and Xinhua Street market

Abstract

Morning markets found in cities of the Northeastern region of China refers to markets that open in the early morning and close at dawn. The tradition of morning markets is better preserved in Northern China and it is still closely connected with the daily lives of the common people, which means that they are very much a living heritage. Currently in Anshan City, Liaoning Province, which is the author’s home city, there are eleven morning markets all over the main city but some are facing the threat of shrinking and declining as there is lack of support from the government. This dissertation focuses on two morning markets in Anshan City, Liaoning Province, taking Daguan Market (大馆早市) and Xinhua Street Market (新华街早市) as the study cases. Daguan morning market, officially known as Daguan New Agricultural Produces Pedestrianized Street Market (大馆新农步行街), is arguably the most representative of the existing morning markets found in the city, with regulated operation and sanitation. For the Xinhua Street Market, it is also a long-lasting one that is reputedly to be the biggest morning market in downtown Anshan. However, due to several reasons, this market is gradually shrinking which is worth researching. The scope of the research is to map the tangible and intangible elements that the morning markets are made up of so as to retrieve the significance of these morning markets for the conservation of this living heritage.