World Business Hub in Asia

Study Tour: Futian Market

    In the past, the university has arranged for various study trips for the students, but there was one trip that I found very informative and helpful in regards to my studies, which was the trip to Futian market in Yiwu. Personally, I have been there alone or with a friend several times but as huge as the market is, we always seem to get lost. However, that was not the case when we went there with the class.

The day started with a well-managed bus trip that was organized to take us from the university and our first stop was a university in Yiwu where we had a seminar given by an employee of Alibaba. He gave us a deep insight of the beginning of many small time business that has grown into huge successes over time, including Alibaba and Futian market and shared many inspirational stories about people who started small and with the right amount of hard work and patience, reached great heights and established a national if not an international business.

After that inspirational hour, we carried on to visit the highlight of the city, Futian market, where we met our tour guide to help us experience the whole place without wasting time, or getting lost in my case. As we walked around, we realized that there was absolutely everything there that anyone could look for!

Till today, Yiwu Futian market is still the biggest hub in China for all sorts of small products. And probably, it's also the biggest one in the world. This huge market complex is divided into 5  districts and each district has various sections. Each section is a complete market in itself for specific products. The whole market is built in 3 times, so local people called it Phase one, Phase Two, and Phase Three. Phase one was open in 2002, Phase three (District 4 and District 5)was fully finished in 2011. For visitors, it's easier to remember different districts.
Everyday more than 50,000 people visit Futian Market, and the goods from this market are sold to over 140...