牛津的零售业
Retailing in Oxfordx0a《西游漫记——牛津大学和哥伦比亚大学访学实录》（3）x0aWandering and Wondering in the West（3）...
Retailing in Oxford
《西游漫记——牛津大学和哥伦比亚大学访学实录》（3）
Wandering and Wondering in the West（3）
牛津的零售业
我住在距离牛津中心城(也称商业中心city centre)25分钟公交车程的Kidlington区，算是牛津城的郊区了.这个区基本以居民区为主，有2万多人，与中心城区间有大片的农庄相隔离。我出门向左步行15分钟就是前面讲到的Sainsbury’s超市，出门向右步行5分钟就到了Kidlington Shop Centre, 算是这个区域的商业中心了。商业街约有500米长，街口对面是奥迪4S店，商业街上有3家超市，北段一家为Iceland，主要供应各种与厨房有关的冷藏食品，300平方米左右的店堂里布置了4排冷藏货柜；中部是Co-operative，特色是供应冷藏即食食品，这家公司还兼具旅游服务功能；最南端是Tesco(乐购)，Tesco是全英国最大的连锁超市,比较受普通民众欢迎。三家超市的面积都不大，在300平方米—500平方米之间。据说在英国，ASDA是最便宜的超市，是低收入阶层的选择。
经营旅游服务的Co-operative超市
老式布店依然受居民欢迎
由此联想到要加快上海郊区农民用房的市场化改革步伐，可以利用市场经济的方式，将喜欢郊区生活的城市居民导入到郊区，通过居民多元化改变郊区人口和消费结构，逐步打破二元管理方式。房子不必奢华，小区管理也无需等级森严。加大公共安全、公共交通和商业服务设施的投入和管理力度才是城乡一体化发展的根本。
牛津中心城（CityCentre）是牛津大学所在地，没有我们传统意义的校门，各学院都没有院墙，街区、校区和社区相互融合，大学就是城，城就是大学，各个学院有自己的建筑，路口的指示牌和每栋楼门口铭牌标着各个学院或研究机构的名称。牛津中心城的商业步行街在牛津火车站附近，大约有800多米的样子。即使不是周末，也有众多来自世界各地的游客徜徉在古老的牛津商业街，感觉别有一番情调，街口的Diamond Jubilee（伊丽莎白女王登基60周年盛典）的各种纪念品的陈设吸引了我，宛若2008年北京奥运会的纪念品专柜。虽然伦敦奥运会还有两个月就要举办了，但整个街道上似乎看不到奥运的宣传，而庆祝女王登基60周年盛典的阵势诱人。
庆祝女王登基60年庆典的纪念品专卖店橱窗
每周四开市的牛津旧货市场
Retailing in Oxford
Qingjuan Li
The place I stay is a large village calledKidlington, about 25 minutes from downtown via public transit. On the way toOxford, there is a vast expanse of farming villages. In Kidlington, houseshigher than 3 stories are very rare with only 20,000 inhabitants. The localshopping centre is actually more of a business street, about 500 meters’ long, only 5 minutes’ walk tomy place marked by a small Audi dealership on the corner. The street alsocontains three food stores. One on the north side is called“Ice Land,” selling all sorts of frozen food,with 4 aisles of freezers in this 300 square meters’store. In the middle is “The co-operative,” providing frozen, instant foods and travelling services. “Tesco” is the last one, located at the southend of the street, which is the largest supermarket chain in Britain, completewith self-checkout. However, none of the three stores is “super” large at about 300 to 500
square meters big. I wasalso told that “ASDA” is a less expensive supermarket to go to; although their items arenot as nice and fresh, it is an ideal option for low income family.
In the middle of the street, a shoppingmall called the Kidlington Centre caught my attention. Store names are clearlylisted at the entrance--18 stores on the first floor, 8 on the second, and 3 onthe third. There is a fabric store, selling a wide variety of cloth and providingsewing service. Stores like this are hard to come by in China. Other shopsincluded a shoe repair, hair salon, bakery, and so on. The Kidlington Centrewas bustling, as it normally is on weekdays. I also heard that a farmer’s market comes to the area every Friday, sellingclothes, fresh vegetables, and flowers.
Shops close at different time on differentdays. Despite grocers closing well after 5pm most days,others open until 5pm onworkdays and close on Sundays. On the same street, there is a convalescent
home for the elderly, alibrary, post office, pregnancy service centre, and youth centre supported by thegovernment providing activities for kids in the community. From this village, Irealize that Shanghai should speed up its reform regarding the commercializationof housing for farmers. The power of a market economy will encourage some urbandwellers to move to the suburbs, thereby changing the local demographic andconsumption structure. Management modes in a dual economic system will bechanged gradually due to this as well. As shown in Kidlington, houses in asuburban area do not need to be extravagant as many try to be around Shanghai,and community management does not need to be rigidly structured. By increasinginvestment opportunities and public safety, both urban and rural areas canfurther develop.
The City Centre is the place where theUniversity of Oxford is located. The campus and its individual departments,lacking any real gate or entrance, blend into streets and community seamlessly;it seems the university is a city itself. Using the sign boards at crossroads,you are able to easily find any specific department or research institute.Thepromenade of the City Centre is not far from the Oxford train station, only 800meters or so.Even on weekdays, many visitors from across the globe wanderaround this ancient street, creating a fun and unique atmosphere all its own. Ashop at the end of the street attracted me with souvenirs of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, which reminds me of the souvenirstands during the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008. There are only two more monthsuntil the London Olympic Games, but I can hardly see any novelty items yet. Itseems the Diamond Jubilee is more of a grand event right now.
With the increasing number of Chinesestudents and residents, there is not surprisingly a Chinese grocery store closeto the station, selling traditional Chinese food items, such as tofu, Chinesered
pepper, chilies, potatonoodles, frozen dumpling, and Tang-yuan (a kind of dumpling made of sweet riceflour with different fillings). Owned by a man from Hong Kong, the market isvery crowded and full of the smell of various Chinese seasonings, but it issomewhat detrimental to the image of a Chinese market. It is time for a Chinesechain supermarket to expand globally. We should foster their service ability toadapt to the global market and facilitate them to go out of China, lifting the standardsof what is “made in China.”
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