Travel in traditional Chinese costumes has become trendy in Xiaohezhi Street of Hangzhou. As the temperature goes down in early winter, young ladies put on their traditional costumes, have flowers pinned on their heads, and come to the Grand Canal and neighboring streets and alleys for photos. The flower pin they wear is unique to fishing girls in Xunpu Village, Quanzhou in southeast China’s Fujian Province. “I fell in love with the costumes and headwear the moment I saw them on Xiaohongshu [a Chinese video-sharing platform],” said a tourist surnamed Gao. There are more than 10 stores in the street providing dressing-up services.
This is a new experience to travel around Xiaohezhi Street. After looking into the markets in Xi’an, Luoyang and Suzhou, Gao Hongling chose to rent a store along the Grand Canal in Hangzhou two months ago and began to provide dressing-up services in Han costumes. The two-storey store is full of Han costumes, headwear and accessories. “Hangzhou is a city of charm and gives room for Han costumes to display their beauty. Travel in Han costumes in Hangzhou is welcomed by young people,” said Gao. “Many of my customers are post-2000s generation. They love to express their love for Han clothes and traditional Chinese costumes in the way of wearing them.” Over the last two months, Gao has an average of 10 customers every day, and more on weekends and holidays. “They would post their photos and experience on social media,” Gao said. She would recommend headwear and accessories based on the style of clothes customers choose, and explain to them their history and usage.
“I would recommend flower crown to my customers,” said the owner of another dressing-up store named “24 Hours in Lin’an.” Song period drama A Dream of Splendor stirred a craze for Song-style clothes, makeup and particularly the elaborately-crafted flower crowns among young people. “Song people were fond of flowers. They used peach blossoms, apricot flowers, peony, chrysanthemum and plum flowers to decorate their crowns,” said the store chief. The store’s team looked into an extensive range of documents and crafted the flower crowns for customers. “We mainly used dry flowers and sticked them carefully on the crowns. They were an overnight hit. Many come to our store for the flower crowns.”
From the popular flower headwear to thriving dressing-up stores, Xiaohezhi Street has changed a lot over the past six months. It’s become a more immersive travel destination. “One of the main sites of ‘Grand Canal Pearls’ Gongshu District has been working to create, Xiaohezhi Street has to have its cultural characteristics so that it can impress people,” said a chief of the Xiaohe Neighborhood. Since earlier this year, the street has introduced a series of culture-inspired products. While integrating local characteristics into “Grand Canal Pearls,” they offer tourists more immersive experiences.
