Yiwu, a farming county is neither near the border nor alongside sea. Lacking of farmland, its people led a poor life.
In Qing Dynasty, those who had no farmland boiled special local product brown sugar and cut into small pieces. By carrying a goods’ burden and rocking the rattle-drum as a sign, they traveled in various counties of China to exchange sugar for chicken and duck feather. They made whisks with quality feathers and fertilized the farmland with poor ones. Gradually, Yiwu people started using commodities to exchange feathers, such as needles, strings, small decorations, etc.. That was the beginning of swap trade.
Yiwu people call this origin Rattle-drum Culture, a culture of “Integrity”.
Nurtured and inspired by the culture of integrity, the industrious and courageous Yiwu people has created the world’s biggest wholesale market of commodities.
