Popularity of their nostalgic item shops have led them to plan for a third

While many young people are pursuing fashion, a young couple from Hong Kong are enjoying operating two stores, selling special items from a few decades ago, in Guangzhou, Guangdong's provincial capital.

The stores Candy Wong and her husband, Dee Tang, run in the city's Yuexiu district are becoming increasingly popular among local residents and tourists, particularly those who were born in the 1970s and '80s.

"Perhaps those who were born during those years tend to be nostalgic for the past," Wong said during an interview.

Both Wong and Tang were born in the 1980s.

The couple opened their first store in 2016. Spurred by the growing number of buyers and visitors, Wong said they plan to open a third, larger store in the southern metropolis later this year that will feature even more retro items.

"Many buyers come to the stores looking for items that bring back memories of their childhood," Wong said.

Recently, an older Guangzhou housewife came to her store and took a liking to a Chinese-style crimson skirt.

"She told me that she had always wanted to buy such an outfit, as her husband once bought her a similar one from Hong Kong when they got married decades ago," Wong said.

At that time, such an outfit was very expensive, costing the equivalent of 390 yuan ($60), according to Wong.

"When I saw it, I recalled my young, happy years," the housewife was quoted as saying by Wong. The woman ultimately purchased the skirt.

Another time, a boy came to the store and told Wong that he wanted to buy a small gold watch from his mother's time and give it to her as a gift, Wong said.

"The price of those watches in the 1980s was about 1,000 yuan. These watches may not be able to work now, but for them, the significance of nostalgia is greater than use," Wong said.

Many customers consider the items to be precious because of their uniqueness, and it takes time and luck to find them, she said.

Dee Tang with a doll at a store he and his wife Candy Wong run in Yuexiu district, Guangzhou, Guangdong province. ZHENG ERQI/CHINA DAILY

"Sometimes, we ask our clients to leave their contact numbers if we fail to have the items they want to buy, and then we call them if we get the items later," Wong said.

"We hope people want to buy the old items because they really like them and are willing to accept their imperfections."

Wong said both she and Tang like vintage items that are no longer being produced. Such items are valued by collectors.

She said the embroidered dress she often wears is more than 30 years old. Also, the earrings she wears have been around since the 1980s, and one of the rings she wears was purchased in 1990s.

Tang said the products displayed and sold in their stores include watches, toys, Chinese-style garments, handbags, jewelry and adornments. "All the old items sold in the stores were actually produced in limited quantities, have been well-protected and have their certificates with production dates and producers' names, and therefore they have special significance," he said.

"They are being sold from several yuan to more than 10,000 yuan, depending on their scarcity, and most were produced between 30 and 100 years ago."

Tang said he once spent nearly 67,000 yuan on an old Rolex watch at a foreign antique shop when he traveled abroad, and Wong has purchased more than 200 handbags with famous brand names, all of which were produced in limited quantities in the previous century.

Tang said many of the items were actually made by hand and are of high quality.

Wong said she likes Guangzhou and has gotten used to the life in the open, tolerant city. Plus, it takes less than an hour to travel between Hong Kong and Guangzhou by high-speed rail.

She said she is planning to have her child go to public school in Guangzhou this year.