by Xinhua Writers Yao Yuan, Bai Xu and Lu Min
HONG KONG, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Rare mushrooms, traditional Qipao with Mickey Mouse patterns and anatomical models for cats' acupuncture therapy -- this department store in Hong Kong will amaze even many native Chinese with its collection of "Made-in-China" goods.
Located on the Jordan Road in Kowloon, the flagship shop of the Yue Hwa Chinese Products Emporium tells a long story of Hong Kong's emotional and cultural bond with the Chinese mainland.
Set up in 1959 with an ambition to enrich the then impoverished mainland by selling its products, the store has become a household name in Hong Kong with products that evoke "a feeling of home."
Now celebrating its 60th birthday, the company is setting out a new vision to attract youngsters and woo foreign tourists with the power of Chinese cultures.
FEELING OF HOME
"Compared with foreign products, our Chinese products evoke a feeling of home," said Andrew Yu, director of Yue Hwa.
The store, which boasts a diversity of Chinese goods not seen elsewhere in Hong Kong, now operates 12 stores across Hong Kong and four in Singapore. Its main store in Jordan boasts a floor area of over 9,300 square meters and over 10,000 types of merchandise.
It all started from a small store in Central, opened by Yu's grandfather Yu Bik Yau to sell everything from dried food to milk candies originated from the Chinese mainland.
"My grandpa hoped to find a place in Hong Kong where he could help China earn the much-needed foreign exchange," said the young entrepreneur. "Aspiring to enrich China, he named the store 'Yue Hwa,' which in Chinese means 'Prosperous China'."
Their loyal patrons have included homesick Chinese living outside the mainland who came to search for familiar foods and utensils.
"Our Singapore stores are frequented by Chinese working or studying there, who come to buy sauces from their hometowns," Yu said. "For Chinese, it is crucial to feel at home and find the familiar tastes of their childhood."
A CULTURAL MUSEUM
The seven-story Jordan main store is like a motley, sometimes outlandish exhibition of everything one can find in a Chinese kitchen, bedroom, and study, from the secret ingredients of a Chinese mom's soup to ingenious gadgets used in self massage.
The store's bestsellers have changed over the years. In the 1970s, they were mainly traditional handicrafts, cloth shoes and underwear, before the mainland's reform and opening-up drive added household appliances to the list in the 1980s.
In the new century, "culture-rich goods" from tea to traditional garments have made a comeback as Chinese cultures gain popularity both at home and abroad.
For instance, there has been a rising interest in Qipao. This prompted the emporium to open a sector for avant-garde Qipao by young Hong Kong designers, who creatively put cartoons and city signs on the classical dress, said Yu.
The Oriental fever also brings a deluge of foreign tourists to the store. "They wish to see something like a museum here. For them, merchandise is also a manifestation of cultures." he said.
RECONNECT WITH YOUTH
As a Cambridge graduate, Yu has harbored a wish to make Yue Hwa a must-see tourist spot in Hong Kong, analogous to London's Harrods. Inspired by Harrods' Rodney Bear, the company came up with its own mascots, a panda family.
On the mall's fourth floor stands the panda family: a father with a beard and tie, a mother in Qipao and pearl necklace, a brother wearing a baseball cap and a baby sister grasping a pacifier. Yu said dolls and cartoons were also developed to promote the brand's popularity especially among the young.
The third-generation entrepreneur has aspired to break the stereotype that the retailer of traditional items is only for the middle-aged and elderly.
Apart from rolling out an online shopping platform, Yue Hwa has launched a sub-brand that offers a "one-stop" package of wedding gifts to help Hong Kong youngsters navigate the complicated Chinese weddings.
"We wish to reconnect with the young customers on their wedding day, so they will think of our stuffs later in life, like our herbal medicines when they give birth."
