Around 8 p.m. on August 4, 2026, a reporter from Legal Daily visited the Jingmeng Night Market in the Dongba area of Chaoyang District, Beijing.

The event featured over 100 stalls divided into several areas, including food, entertainment, and cultural and creative products. Here you could find everything from Inner Mongolian shumai with its thin skin and juicy, fragrant meat, to Changsha stinky tofu with its crispy exterior and tender interior, and Chaoshan fried chicken with fermented bean curd—a diverse array of culinary delights from all over China. That evening, the night market was mostly full, the air thick with the sounds of people and the aromas of food, creating a vibrant and lively atmosphere.

Ms. Liu, from Changsha, Hunan, told reporters that she had seen videos of the Jingmeng Night Market online before and this was her first time visiting. She found that although the night market was not particularly large, the food was very unique and the vendors were very welcoming.

According to reports, the Dongba Jingmeng Night Market will open in May 2026 and will remain open until mid-October 2026.

In July 2026, the State Council issued its approval of the "15th Five-Year Plan for Expanding Consumption" (hereinafter referred to as the "Plan"), which clarified the development ideas, objectives, key tasks, and policy measures for the consumption sector during the 15th Five-Year Plan period. Among these measures was the proposal to develop the nighttime cultural and tourism economy, and to organize lantern festivals, temple fairs, light shows, and nighttime water tours, among other activities, according to local conditions.

Reporters noted that with the continued implementation of support measures for the city's nighttime economy in recent years, street-side night markets are upgrading from "street stalls" to standardized consumption scenarios. However, as the vibrancy of the nighttime economy continues to grow, some night markets still need improvement in areas such as environmental sanitation, traffic order, and collaborative governance. How can night markets be developed in a standardized manner and how can refined governance be achieved? Reporters recently conducted interviews on this topic.

Policies promote the development of night markets

Yaocun Night Market is one of the most popular night markets in Tianjin in recent years. On August 11, 2026, a reporter saw more than 200 stalls along both sides of the street at Yaocun Night Market. Tender Fuding meat slices, smoky roasted chicken racks, golden and crispy vegetable pancakes, oily and soft glutinous rice, and richly flavored grilled cold noodles... it is a veritable "grand garden" of Chinese cuisine, attracting many food lovers to stop and eat.

It is understood that vendors set up their stalls around 4 p.m. at the Yaocun Night Market, with most stalls operating until the early hours of the morning and the last to close until 3 or 4 a.m. the next day. A resident said, "No vendors play music through loudspeakers here, so it's not particularly noisy. We live in the Yaocun residential area right next to the night market and haven't experienced any inconvenience."

The bustling scene of night markets is unfolding in many places.

The Taoyuan Night Market in Wuhu City, Anhui Province, which opened in the summer of 2026, is located on Chizhushan Road near the Taoyuan Vegetable Market. Surrounded by densely populated residential areas, its convenient location and abundant food options quickly made it a popular "late-night eatery" for locals. Another newly opened market, the Wuxiaomang Night Market in Jinghu District of Wuhu City, is equally vibrant and has become a popular nighttime gathering place. The "Mango Night Market" next to the Olympic Sports Center Station on Wuhu Monorail Line 1 features 180 neatly arranged stalls offering not only traditional delicacies like Red House Lobster and specialty barbecues, but also new businesses such as intangible cultural heritage handicrafts and trendy cultural and creative toys, making it a favorite among locals and a must-visit for tourists.

Changsha, Hunan Province, boasts several nationally renowned night markets. Yangfan Night Market gathers nearly 500 unique shops; Sifangping Night Market features over a thousand stalls showcasing Hunan's distinctive snacks; Lugu Dongtang Night Market, though newly opened, is thriving, with many stall owners being born in the 2000s… Statistics from the Changsha Municipal Bureau of Commerce show that, as a benchmark city for the national nighttime economy, Changsha's nighttime consumption accounts for 60% of its total daily consumption, and it has been selected as one of the "Top Ten Most Influential Cities in China's Nighttime Economy" for three consecutive years.

In recent years, many places have introduced relevant policies to promote the development of night markets.

In 2022, Wuhu City issued the "Three-Year Action Plan for Further Promoting the Development of the Nighttime Economy (2022-2024)," aiming to create a city brand for the nighttime economy. In 2023, Wuhu City issued the "Several Policy Regulations of Wuhu City on Promoting the Development of the Nighttime Economy," accelerating the development of the nighttime economy in Wuhu City, promoting the prosperity of the nighttime consumer market, improving the convenience of nighttime consumption, and creating a high-quality nighttime business and consumption environment.

In addition, relevant departments in Tianjin issued "Several Measures to Promote the Sustainable and Healthy Development of the Nighttime Economy in Tianjin", and relevant departments in Yunnan Province released "Several Measures to Further Promote the High-Quality Development of Yunnan's Nighttime Cultural and Tourism Economy" to guide the standardized development of night markets.

Supporting services still need to be improved.

For night markets to thrive, they need meticulously designed supporting services.

The Jingmeng Night Market has a relatively large parking lot, making parking convenient, and there are almost no instances of illegal parking or vendors obstructing the road. Reporters noted that staff immediately clean up after customers leave, resulting in virtually no litter on the ground or tables. Multiple handwashing stations are provided for the convenience of both customers and vendors.

However, not all night markets can meet this standard; environmental hygiene is a weakness for many night markets.

According to public reports, in early June 2026, some residents complained that garbage left over from a night market in Jiading District, Shanghai, was not promptly cleaned up after the market closed. The stench, especially in the sweltering heat, caused inconvenience for commuters during the morning rush hour the following day.

A night market in Tianjin has set up two public restrooms at each end of the venue, but there are too few stalls and neither is equipped with enough hand sanitizer, automatic hand dryers, toilet paper, etc., resulting in a poor user experience.

In addition, each fixed stall in the night market has several small tables for diners, but the trash on them sometimes remains uncollected for up to half an hour. After consulting with stall owners, reporters learned that the trash on the tables is the responsibility of the stall owner, but sometimes they are too busy to clean it promptly; the trash on the ground is the responsibility of a property management company, but their staff are not timely in cleaning it up.

Reporters visited the night market twice, on August 5th and August 11th, staying for about two hours each time. No staff were observed cleaning up the garbage during their visits. After closing time, some areas of the ground were found to be blackened, and grease had accumulated in the grout lines between the bricks.

In addition, due to limited parking facilities, the phenomenon of random parking is quite serious around some night markets. When there is a large flow of people, some two-way streets are squeezed into one-way streets by illegally parked vehicles.

The government should do a good job in bottom-line management.

After night markets became popular, how can they be managed to "thrive without becoming chaotic"? In recent years, many places have provided solutions for governance.

According to public reports, the Linghe Night Market in Jinzhou, Liaoning Province, became incredibly popular due to its vibrant atmosphere, with daily visitor numbers exceeding 50,000 at its peak, causing severe traffic congestion. In response to the sudden surge in visitors, the local government quickly activated its emergency response mechanism: the local government assumed overall responsibility, with public security, urban management, and market supervision departments cooperating and adding temporary public toilets, arranging shuttle buses, and introducing a smart monitoring system to manage visitor flow in real time, ensuring the market's orderly operation.

Changsha County in Hunan Province has established a routine supervision system for stall access, roving cleaning, food and fire safety to ensure unobstructed fire lanes, urge merchants to operate with integrity and in compliance with regulations, and achieve a balance between popularity and order, so as to achieve "bustling but not dirty and disorderly, and smoke and fire not disturbing the people".

In Zhengzhou, Henan Province, the city's urban management system adheres to the approach of "combining blocking and dredging, moving vendors from roads into shops, and guiding them into markets." While strictly enforcing the law, it focuses on finding places and providing a way out for mobile vendors. After the vendors who illegally occupy roads are cleared out, through publicity and guidance, most of them concentrate in relatively standardized areas such as nearby convenience service points and food courts.

Regarding the future development of the night market economy, Guo Jinpeng, a researcher at the Institute of Economic and Social Development of Mega-Cities at the Capital University of Economics and Business, told reporters that refined management of night markets can be achieved through the following paths:

First, different types of management plans should be developed based on the origin of night markets. For example, night markets actively guided and constructed by the government should adopt a "planning and design" management model with prior overall planning. This involves conducting site selection demonstrations, safety assessments, and environmental evaluations in advance, setting entry thresholds for merchants, and improving supporting management measures to largely avoid common problems such as street vending, fire hazards, and environmental sanitation issues.

Secondly, management and guidance should be tailored to the type of vendors and their business operations in night markets. For example, some night markets are located in fixed locations such as parks, parking lots, cinemas, or tourist attractions. In such cases, collaborative management between venue operators and government departments can be promoted based on the type of night market area and its business operations.

Third, provide appropriate management and supporting measures based on the operating season and zoning of the night market.

“Different night markets rely on different resources, venues, seasons, and business themes, requiring local government management departments to consider different management methods and intensities based on their specific circumstances,” said Guo Jinpeng. In short, the government should ensure basic management and guarantees such as traffic, safety, and hygiene in the management, construction, and services of night markets, while allowing social operators and merchants to innovate their business models within the legal and compliant scope, and providing policy guidance and supporting measures when necessary.

In addition, reporters noted that some night markets have become homogenized.

In response, Wang Yan, a researcher at the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics' Institute of Haipai Economics, believes that to avoid homogenization in the development of night markets, they can be categorized into three types based on their operational positioning and service scenarios, thus pursuing a differentiated approach:

First, there are comprehensive night markets. Leveraging the high foot traffic of well-known scenic spots and core attractions in the city, these markets create an integrated business model that combines sightseeing, tours, food, performances, and shopping.

Second, there are themed street-style night markets. These are specialized streets focusing on a vertical theme, such as food streets, bar streets, or shopping streets. These night markets have high requirements for location, needing to avoid residential buildings and ensure relatively independent venues. The core is to strengthen the theme and follow a professional and differentiated street operation approach.

Thirdly, there are community-based night markets. These primarily serve residents of the surrounding communities, but they are also a type of market where disturbances and complaints from residents are relatively concentrated. These night markets require focused management of environmental issues such as oil fumes, odors, and noise and light pollution. Currently, many places are adopting a refined management model of "limited time periods, limited areas, and limited business types" to balance the convenience of these markets with the order of community life through standardized operations. (Source: Legal Daily)