云纺谣 | Ode to Yunfang

I once tried to describe Yunfang with one word, but after just three seconds I gave up; one second of excitement, one second of entanglement, and one second of relief.

But these three seconds felt as long as decades. During those three seconds, the whole life story of Yunfang was replayed in my mind: its establishment during the Anti-Japanese War, the “golden 10 years” after the reform and opening up, the transformation in the wave of market economy and the turn-around in recent years to adapt to the times.

It is incredibly difficult to describe its 87 years of history in just one word. From Yunnan Textile Mills to Yunfang Wholesale Market and today’s Yunfang Cultural and Creative Park, Yunfang, with its long history, is still hustling and bustling.

No. 668, Huancheng South Road is no longer the old Yunfang in the minds of Kunming people. Let us use a few questions to get re-acquainted with her.

When Zhang Xiaonan, full of excitement, put on her bargain from this year’s “Double Eleven Festival” — a Klein blue knitted jacket — and showed it to her grandmother, the old woman was taken aback for a while, before she finally said, “Oh, girls still wear yindan blue today? It is beautiful.” The girl anxiously stamped her feet, saying “Grandma, this is Klein blue!” After all, in her mind, yindan blue she knew when she was a kid was the color of the headscarves of old women in the countryside and aprons of old women, which had nothing to do with fashion.

The 79-year-old grandmother walked into her room and from an old-fashioned suitcase under the closet, she took out a yindan blue slanted cheongsam that had been preserved for many years. She held the dress up to her granddaughter and said “This color was fashionable in my youth too. The fabric was made by Yunfang.” Zhang Xiaonan looked at their reflection in the mirror and did not know if to laugh or cry; the colors were exactly the same. There and then she realized that fashion goes in circles.

Yunfang represents history of light industries in Yunnan.

In the Yunfang Museum, the deep sound of a Toyota loom can still be heard, as if it has never stopped for the last 80-odd years.

This museum, which records the industrial culture of Yunnan, the memory of old Kunming, and the history of Yunfang, was officially opened in late 2018. Chen Lan, the curator, explained to the visitors in a slow and gentle voice that at the beginning of the last century, every person in Yunnan owned an average 300 grams of cotton yarn that had been produced by Yunfang, and that girls in yindan blue cheongsams represented the modernity of Yunnan. “Initiated in 1934, and built and put into production in 1937, generations of people have grown up with the brand Yunfang, which has become the memory of the times in the minds of many people in Yunnan.”

Ran Xi, a “post-95” and an “old Kunmingness” said Yunfang represented “liveliness” when he was a kid. “It was hustling and bustling every day, with the endless hawking of the vendors. What I liked the most is that my dad drove his old-fashioned Mazda to the parking lot where he would drive the car around and around in circles. At that time, even the parking lot was very fashionable. The toy wholesale city, with its dazzling selection of dinosaurs, soldiers, racing car toys, was my favorite,...” Three years ago, when Ran Xi came back to Yunfang, he immediately recognized the parking lot, which now has become the “cloud magnetic space” of Yunfang Science and Technology Park.

At 3:30 in the morning, when the street performers are still singing on Yunfang East Road, there are already long queues of taxis at the entrance of the archway. The brightly lit streets give those who go home late the warmth of a home. The night is the most beautiful thing in the mortal world.

This is Yunfang in Li Na’s eyes. On her way home after working overtime, she took a photo of the lively night in Yunfang.

In the 24-hour hot pot restaurants, people who come through the neon nights will get rid of their depression and exhaustion, and after they have put food in the stomachs, their joy is restored. Buskers sing with hoarse voices as people buy fried pork ribs at the street food stalls to reward themselves and enjoy life after a hard day’s work.

In Xiao Lin’s eyes, Yunfang represents a lifetime of romance. Three years ago, her stomach filled with butterflies, she put on her beautiful wedding dress, and married the one she loved the most.

Going to Yunfang from one side of Haigeng Road and walking across the “Confessions Road”, you will arrive at Xizunlong Marriage Square where her wedding ceremony was held. The “Ten Mile Peach Forest”, “Tropical Road”, “Flower Road” are all dreamy and romantic. Xizunlong Marriage Square does not only have banquet halls of different styles, but also executive chefs who have worked for the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse.

San Shi describes Yunfang with a big note, he often visits Yunfang Music Square. Piano and guqin music flow out from an unknown music company. Piano, guitar, cucurbit flutes, guqin, pipa, saxophone, here you will find what you are looking for. At present, it is the most comprehensive and largest musical instrument market in Southwest China.

Of course, the Music Square does more than just selling musical instruments. It often introduces creative music talents and hosts various concerts. There are performing spaces for artists, stage plays, and films, but also a special music base for training, performances, music creation, and large-scale music festivals.

Throwing yourself into the ocean of books in the Book Culture Plaza, visiting 11 countries in Southeast Asia in one day in the Southeast Asia Market, and going to the Magic Box Market are new ways to tour Yunfang. You can also encounter the “Marvel Universe” in the animation zone...Here, history and technology, music and love, art and reading, all blend together.

Yunfang, Yunfang... who is singing the ode to Yunfang? In music, you can talk about the past and the present. The sound of the ode is growing stronger amidst the winds of change.