COMMUNITY MARKET

Written by XIANEASE

Last month the Xi’an community reached a milestone, a benchmark of a vibrant and supportive community with communication and interaction as its base. The Xi’an Community Market held its first two market days and was met with a rousing number of stalls and perspective buyers. Held at 3as4 bar on Bar Street just inside the city wall the double weekend and weekday events are geared to accommodate as many people as possible. Every market day features different stalls with different items but overall there are folks selling everything from secondhand clothes and household items, to knick-knacks and food.
Since this milestone is a big one and should be given the recognition it deserves we decided to highlight some of the folks who have put their passion and talents on the line and opened a stall selling their goods. These are not the only sellers at the market days by far but just a handful of them, from now on every month we will endeavor to highlight at least one seller in the magazine to help keep this momentum and support going.
Harsha Jeans
Jeans are comfortable and go with absolutely anything. They can be worn with any kind of shoes. They look hotter when ripped. Jeans clothe the entire cultural spectrum. One is left to wonder if they are more of a fashion choice or a default setting.
However, even though jeans are a staple of many peoples’ wardrobes, it can be a real task for foreign women to find fashionable and comfortable jeans in China. Why is that?
Size and Body Type
If you are size M in your home country, don’t be shocked if you end up being an XXXL in China. Don’t be jealous of those stick-thin girls you see prancing around the shopping streets; love your curves and find the right jeans to show them off. We sell jeans that have a hip and butt allowance and have the ability to stretch. No need to squeeze yourself into jeans meant for Asian women. We have all sizes, regardless of your weight and shape.
Style
Chinese fashion can be a little bit…flashy. All of those sequins and splashes of glitter and Chinglish slogans may work for some, but you might prefer something a little more understated. We have tasteful, classic styles, including skinny, boot cut, straight, high-waist, shorts and pedal pushers. Whatever your style, we have it at an affordable price.
Convenience
Between the crowds, the traffic and general congestion of Xi’an, it can be a struggle to get around. A trip to a neighboring district can feel so far away. Even if you get there, you can run the risk of an unsuccessful shopping experience due to the language barrier. Don’t worry—we come to you. We take measurements wherever you are and can deliver anywhere you want us to: offices, homes, sidewalks, bars, restaurants, you name it, we can get there.
We’ll be at the Xi’an Community Market, but if you’d like to get in touch with us directly, here is our contact information:
Lily: 18700859424
Raul: 18700428405
Tortillas and More: Plentiful Harvest
Mu Huifang, better known as Xiao Mu, hails from the Lantian area east of Xi’an. The youngest of five and the third daughter, she was forced to stop her schooling at a young age in order to help out at home. As a result, she became the family cook and, while she enjoyed cooking, it wasn’t until she got a job as a housekeeper for an American family that she learned to bake. Her employers gave her recipes to try, but her first attempts at bread tasted more like cake!  She learned quickly, however, and began making rolls, tortillas, cakes and cookies, all from scratch.
Eventually she began baking on her own at home after work and decided to start selling tortillas. Soon, an Australian family helped her add some Aussie-influenced sweets to her repertoire and she opened her first Wechat store called Plentiful Harvest or 福荣 (“Wei Dian”) in Chinese. Now it’s a family affair: she bakes, her kids (10 and 12) flip tortillas after homework is done and her husband Xiao Li makes the deliveries!
All of her baked goods are made by hand with the best local and imported ingredients, with no preservatives, artificial flavoring or color added.
Xiao Mu’s first ad in the Community Market section of Xianease appeared in 2013, and she is very excited to share her baked goods with everyone at the Flea Market!
To order (please note all orders must be placed at least 24 hours in advance, delivery charges may apply):
Wechat name: muhuifang10
Wechat store (can place orders online) http://wd.koudai.com/s/252514990
Phone/text: 15191688611
At the Community Market, I provide real, quality stones and jadeite jewelry at reasonable prices. I’m confident that you will find a piece you like.
One thing that is truly amazing about jadeite jewelries is its uniqueness.You will never find two identical pieces, so if you’re eyeing one, that is fate calling; it’s a tangible attraction and connection to a piece that is as unique as you are.
In Chinese culture, it is said that natural jadeite jewelry will bring wealth and good fortune, ward off bad luck, bring inner peace to a person’s mind and provide protection to its wearer.
Jadeite’s color is commonly white or green, but can also be a bluish-green, pink, lavender or a multitude of other rare colors.
From my personal experience, the color of a jadeite piece will change over time; it can go darker and more transparent due to contact with your skin
If you want to know more about jadeite jewelry and find your special piece, please come to our Community Market, you won’t be disappointed!
 AYATANA
I love using natural soap. As someone with eczema (thanks, mom),I can’t just use any bar of cheap soap loaded with harsh chemicals because it really irritates my sensitive and very dry skin. If you are also someone that has searched Xi’an for handmade natural soaps, you will understand how frustratingly difficult it is to get your hands on them. They’re either ridiculously expensive, possible fakes sold on Taobao, or you have to go out of your way to ask friends to bring them back from overseas. That’s why my friend Sarah and I started Ayatana. We decided to make our own allnatural,plant-based soap, made carefully using locally-sourced ingredients, and to share it with our community and friends.
I love using natural soap. As someone with eczema (thanks, mom), I can’t just use any bar of cheap soap loaded with harsh chemicals because it really irritates my sensitive and very dry skin. If you are also someone that has searched Xi’an for handmade natural soaps, you will understand how frustratingly difficult it is to get your hands on them. They’re either ridiculously expensive, possible fakes sold on Taobao, or you have to go out of your way to ask friends to bring them back from overseas. That’s why my friend Sarah and I started Ayatana. We decided to make our own all-natural, plant-based soap, made carefully using locally-sourced ingredients, and to share it with our community and friends.
What we often forget is that what goes onto our skin goes into our bodies. Conventional mass-produced soaps are made from mineral oils, which clog your pores, causing acne and exacerbating dry, sensitive skin. However, we didn’t want to make soap that just cleaned, we also wanted to really take care of the skin by using natural plant oils that have properties that can solve a variety of issues. For instance, avocado oil is perfectly suited for dry, sensitive, and damaged skin because it contains sterolin, which works to soften the skin and reduce incidents of age spots and has antioxidants like vitamin A, D, and E that moisturize and heal sun damage.
But who doesn’t love a beautiful bar of soap that also smells nice? The colors you see and scents you smell from Ayatana soap come solely from the plant oils’ original colors, natural ingredients such as honey, lavender and green tea, and are fragranced by a blend of pure, essential aromatherapy oils.
What’s great about our soap is that there’s one for every skin type. We have ones with tea tree oil for those of you who have acne prone skin, hazelnut and sweet almond oil if you want moisturizing with a silky smooth finish, or exfoliating oatmeal that will work to gently buff away dead skin cells to get rid of the dullness we all feel at times. These are just a few of our many varieties.
Sarah and I take the time to make every batch by hand using the cold press method, meaning that after the plant-based and essential oils are mixed with a lye solution, they are left to cure for another 3-4 weeks until the PH levels become balanced. Sarah has a background in studying aromatherapy and also teaches yoga, and she likes to say, “Just like our body likes fresh food, our skin likes fresh soap.” It is really important to try and use our soaps within the first few months when the oils reach peak effectiveness and provide your skin with the most benefits. Sarah, with her vast knowledge of oils and soap making, is an absolute stickler for maintaining the integrity of our ingredients, paired with my desire to turn every bar of soap into a small piece of art, is what makes Ayatana special. We carefully hand cut each bar and test each batch because we want showering to be a time to relax and pamper yourself, an escape from the beautiful chaos that is Xi’an.
We feel it’s not only important to take care of ourselves, but also the environment and the planet we all share. Our soap is 100% biodegradable within twenty-four hours, and we’re excited to be donating a portion of all our soap sales to reputable charities starting with the earthquake relief fund in Nepal (through www.directrelief.org ) and later to the awesome local charity, Yellow River Soup Kitchen. We will have a booth set up at the Xi’an community flea market May 24th and June 1st so come by to chat and buy some amazing soap to share with your friends and family.  We sell individual bars and variety packages, and offer customized soap, by request, on a per-batch basis. If you would like more information, or are looking to make purchases, contact Shaughnessy at 13072967902  (Wechat ID: Shaughnessy) and follow us officially on WeChat at AyatanaHandmadeSoap.
Fun fact: A 5th century Buddhist text identifies knowing about Ayatana, the sense bases, as part of the “soil of liberating wisdom.” Well, we can’t promise Nirvana, but we can promise to keep you clean!
The Xi’an community has always been small, but as they say in Singapore,“Size doesn’t count” and to see the turnout and support for the community
market is one that not only defines the community we live in but the people that make it up. The community market is an ongoing process with kinks and
issues to iron out but those are mere trifles that will work out in time. There is now a concrete example of our lives in Xi’an, come out and give your support and help be the community that you want to live in.