How Can a 20,000-Square-Meter Suburban Mall Rise as the City’s New Landmark of ‘Relaxed Aesthetics’?

Yuniao Market has proven another possibility for suburban commerce: when cultural DNA is deeply decoded into “emotional infrastructure”, and when consumers evolve from mere “shoppers” into “co-creators”, business transcends the logic of transactions and becomes the weaving of collective memory and the nourishment of a city’s spirit.The ultimate revelation of this experiment may be that the future of commercial landmarks is no longer just a steel-and-concrete container for traffic, but rather a field of meaning—a place where people can truly “dwell poetically.”

It may have been precisely under such pressure that the project found its breakthrough. With the support of China Business Data under RET RuiyiDe, the project team turned weaknesses into strengths by adopting a “counter-commercial” approach that ultimately led to success—transforming the site into a cultural and commercial landmark now widely studied by the industry.Within just three months of opening, the venue achieved an average daily footfall of over 12,000 visitors, peaking at 25,000 on weekends. Its sales performance per square meter far exceeded that of other community-based malls in similar locations. On Xiaohongshu (RED), related posts surpassed 100,000 mentions, and the tag “Hangzhou’s Artistic Hotspot” quickly went viral.For residents of Liangzhu Cultural Village, Yuniao Market has become their “spiritual living room.” Meanwhile, visitors describe it as “a long poem untouched by commercial pollution.”

Using “Space-Time Folding” to Evolve from a “Commercial Venue” to a “Spiritual Enclave”

The success of Yuniao Market lies first in its redefinition of the value of commercial space. The “Third Place” theory proposed by sociologist Ray Oldenburg is fully embodied here. The project deliberately downplays the transactional nature of traditional commerce and instead strengthens its role as a social hub and cultural carrier, creating an “ideal enclave” between home (the first space) and the workplace (the second space).This positioning is reflected in multiple aspects of spatial design. The overall low-density, open-air block blurs the boundary between commerce and nature, allowing the mountains and rivers of Liangzhu to permeate modern consumer scenes, forming a “semi-wild” spatial aesthetic. The circulation layout draws from the “Eight Scenes of Jade Bird” concept, combining “Barn Alley” (slow street) and “Villager Alley” (fast street). The former integrates slow-living formats such as indie bookstores and curator studios, while the latter hosts cafés and casual dining for high-frequency consumption—seamlessly enabling both a “15-minute lifestyle circle” and a “half-day micro-retreat.”Architect Liu Yichun’s design of the “Grand Barn” uses triangular geometries to cut space, allowing natural light to flow freely and turning architecture into art. More ingenious, however, is the project’s creation and use of “negative space.” By deliberately controlling commercial density and reserving 40% of the area for art exhibitions, open-air concerts, and even a “do-nothing lawn” for daydreaming, the design reduces the oppressive feel of commerce and creates room for serendipitous encounters.

Using “Cultural Translation” to Activate Local DNA, Turning Archaeological Symbols into Daily Rituals

How to engage with the Liangzhu culture IP was the project’s core challenge. Yuniao Market’s solution: not to stage a static, museum-like display, but to integrate cultural elements seamlessly into contemporary life.The visual identity system serves as the most direct form of translation. The Liangzhu jade bird totem is abstracted into wayfinding icons, art installations, and even latte art patterns, making heavy history tangible, photographable, and take-home. Architecturally, traditional village elements such as sloped roofs and rammed earth walls are reinterpreted with modern materials to form a distinctive “neo-ruralist” aesthetic.Event programming further lowers the threshold for cultural participation. The “Liangzhu Arts & Life Festival” transforms archaeological digs and pottery-making into parent-child workshops; the “Flying Jade Bird Market” adopts the theme of “working with hands,” inviting artisans for live creation and reinforcing the value recognition of “labor as art.” These activities now exceed 150 annually, boosting revisit rates by 37%.Most importantly, Yuniao Market activates “villager memory.” The old community canteen has been renovated, and the former grain barn reborn as the Spirit of the Bird cultural creative hub. By revitalizing spaces that carry collective memory, the project establishes emotional ties between residents and visitors, transforming culture from a display item in a showcase into a living bond connecting people.

Making Commerce a “Personalized Curatorship,” Turning the Niche into the Mainstream

Yuniao Market introduces 85% non-standard brands, with 60% being owner-operated stores, creating a unique “personalized commercial curatorship” model. Shops such as Mumo Craft or Wild Dining Table are not just retail outlets but extensions of their owners’ aesthetics and lifestyles, turning products into “storytelling media.”These owners act as both entrepreneurs and “cultural curators,” engaging users on social media and co-creating content. Thus, commercial space transcends transactions and becomes an arena for emotional connection. Instead of relying on standardized brands, the project uses “co-creation potential” and “social media activity” as its key selection metrics—attracting highly educated and content-savvy curators, and proving that “niche aggregation equals mainstream appeal.”On the operational side, Yuniao Market fosters complementary and emotionally resonant “curator clusters.” Through the Village Creation Alliance, curators actively participate in spatial redesign and event planning, from the “Urban Wild Living Festival” to the “Dream Lightbox Art Exhibition,” turning shops into continuous content workshops.Meanwhile, partnerships with platforms like Xiaohongshu drive initiatives such as the “Urban Roaming Plan,” which designs artistic check-in routes. Within six months, these efforts generated over 100,000 pieces of UGC (User Generated Content), with active participation rates reaching 68%. This decentralized model transforms commercial space from static retail into a dynamic cultural production site.Additionally, the Curator Brand Incubation Program supports independent designers, artisans, and local creatives, offering flexible policies such as rent-free trial periods. With stores like Hetian Tian traditional snacks and Sanputi Fragrance Studio as examples, the project lowers barriers to innovation while large-scale events continually boost community engagement and belonging. Here, commerce is no longer a cold transaction, but a warm cultural practice—sustained by the logic that “community is traffic.”

Leveraging the “Tipsy Realm” to Extend Dwell Time and Unlock the Immersive Power of the Night Economy

Yuniao Market reinvents nighttime consumption with its “Tipsy Realm” model, upgrading the traditional “dining + lighting” format into a multi-dimensional blend of “cultural tipsiness + social healing.” Through an immersive design, the project created a matrix of “night market + art + tipsiness,” successfully extending consumer hours past midnight, with nighttime visitors accounting for 65% of total traffic. It was also named a Demonstration Zone for Nighttime Cultural Tourism Consumption in Zhejiang Province.In scene-making, Yuniao Market tailors experiences to segmented audiences. For families, it offers “family-friendly tipsiness” through activities like frisbee games and blind box treasure hunts woven into the night market flow. For younger crowds, it creates immersive combos like “craft beer market + outdoor cinema + soul-healing workshops,” including a co-branded “Midnight Reading Room” with Zhihu—where knowledge sharing meets social interaction in a lightly tipsy atmosphere.The food and beverage formats emphasize the “tipsy economy,” with craft beer bars and yakitori izakayas anchoring light-alcohol experiences, complemented by art exhibitions to form a closed-loop of cultural immersion. As a result, average dwell time has significantly increased.This innovative night economy model represents an evolution of the classic “experience economy.” By expanding the notion of “tipsiness” beyond alcohol to include cultural resonance, social connection, and emotional release, Yuniao Market creates layered, time-deepened consumption scenes. From late-night art exhibitions to healing workshops with ritualistic appeal, and limited-edition events that spark scarcity-driven engagement, the project has successfully built a multidimensional nighttime cultural experience.

The creation of Yuniao Market is, at its core, an experiment in resisting the alienation of commerce. It proves that when culture is no longer merely “on display” but instead “activated as breath,” and when commerce shifts its pursuit from “efficiency” to “meaning,” even the distant suburbs can give birth to trendsetting landmarks more avant-garde than those in the city.This is not only a victory of a single project overcoming adversity, but also a powerful interpretation of the ultimate value of commerce: in an age of material abundance, only spiritually resonant spaces can inspire consumers to willingly pay the “time premium.”