2016

S2.E1 ∙ Mysore flower market (India)

Wed, Jan 04, 2017

Flowers bring colour to Indians' everyday lives, as well as being part of every major life event. They are deeply rooted in the entire country's cultural and religious traditions, but nowhere else are they as important a trade as in Mysore, in Karnataka state. The region boasts fertile soil that produces more than 75% of all flowers sold in the country. For 120 years, the Devaraja flower market has immersed more than 20,000 daily visitors in a sea of vibrant colours and intoxicating scents. The market opens at dawn every day of the year. It has some 150 flowers vendors, offering chrysanthemums, jasmine, roses and other blossoms sold in bulk or in garlands for women to wear, honouring the gods or celebrating rites of passage. With a flower auction every morning, small vendors' exuberant stalls, hand-crafted garlands, a nearby vegetable farm, offerings to the gods and the making of rose-petal jam, the market is an entire community that lives and thrives around the bustling flower trade. In India, flowers please the gods as much as they do people; their ubiquity brings communities together and fills the air with sweet harmony. Get ready for some flower power with this colourful episode.

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S2.E2 ∙ Mandalay jade market (Myanmar)

Wed, Jan 04, 2017

The city of Mandalay, Myanmar, is known as the "city of jewels." And for good reason. This is where you'll find the world's largest jade market, where some 100,000 vendors, buyers, brokers, cutters and jewellers congregate every day to make and trade the coveted precious stone. Opened in 2000, the market now has more than 1100 shops offering raw and polished stones, jewellery, statuettes, figurines and medallions. In every case, the item's quality is indicated by the stone's shade of green and level of translucence. As we follow the brokers who negotiate trades, the workers who mine the stones and the artisans who cut and polish them, we see how important jade is to the country's economy, only recently freed from the yoke of military dictatorship. And yet the trade is controlled by the country's superpower neighbour, China, where jade is a key symbol of Chinese culture and identity. Some visionary Burmese want to turn jade into a true driver of economic development for the whole country. One Mandalay merchant, for example, dreams of turning his city into "the world centre of the jade trade," while another businessman used the precious stone to build an enormous pagoda intended to burnish the country's image and delight tourists.

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S2.E3 ∙ Dantokpa pagne market (Cotonou, Benin)

Wed, Jan 18, 2017

The pagne, also known as the wrapper or lappa, is an iconic African garment. Traditionally worn in West Africa, it comes in countless colourful patterns, and each country has its own version. One of the continent's biggest pagne markets, the Dantokpa market, is located in Cotonou, Benin. Every day, the vast 15-hectare market welcomes one million visitors. Shaded from the sun by large parasols, Dantokpa market's 5,000 stalls sell jewellery, clothing, food and drink. Inside the main building - known as the temple of wax hollandais - is where we find countless pagnes. The name is derived from the technique used to make the garment, which involves soaking in wax to preserve the fabric's vivid colours. Women, men and children of all social classes wear pagnes, which were originally made in the Netherlands. Squares, circles, floral patterns, seashells, everyday items, animals, gods: each pattern has a message, sometimes highly communicative, or may be a symbol of cultural belonging or a memento of a special occasion. In Benin, women are the main players in the pagne trade, having developed participatory and creative relationships with their suppliers. Dantokpa market also has 80 Vodun shops whose wares include bones, feathers and furs. Here, the religion's adherents can purchase the items they need to make an amulet, or the ingredients for traditional medicines. Both soft and sturdy, symbols of perseverance and success, the pagnes of Dantokpa market reflect not only the different cultures that call Benin home, they also embody the history of Africa. Come read the silent story in the patterns, a story told every day under the Cotonou sun.

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S2.E4 ∙ Maliandao tea market (China)

Wed, Jan 25, 2017

Tea is both accessible to all and highly sophisticated. It is everywhere in Chinese culture, and people respect and revere it as they would an emperor. The enormous Maliandao tea market embodies the rich tradition, with 6,000 shops covering more than a kilometre. Tea merchants and vendors of supplies like teapots, utensils and boxes share this great commercial hub. The carefully organized shops transform into steamy teahouses, because here one must know how to separate the ordinary from the exceptional and sample teas as a connoisseur, immersed in the moment. Showing off delicate covered bowls, vendors entice customers with tea leaf braids and delicious samples. Green, black, white, red, yellow, oolong: there is a tea for everyone, and each has its own unique character. Whether calming or energizing, the infusions were part of the Middle Kingdom's pharmacopeia before becoming a refined part of everyday life, a symbol of the core Chinese values of authenticity and harmony. Hundreds of kilometres from Beijing is Mount Wuyi, the home of camellia sinensis, the tea plant from which all six varieties of tea grow. After harvest, the leaves are aired out, dried and toasted, before being shipped to the rest of China and around the world. While a qin player plucks his instrument, stroll through the calm, serene passages of the Maliandao tea market. Follow your nose from floral to woody aromas, and succumb to the charms of the art of tea.

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S2.E5 ∙ Mwenge sculpture market (Dar es Salaam, Tanzania)

Wed, Feb 01, 2017

The dark, gleaming black of ebony wood reflects all Tanzanian culture. The Mwenge woodcarvers' market is located in downtown Dar es Salaam, on the shores of the Indian Ocean. Ebony carvings, masks and boxes share crowded shelves under the stalls' corrugated roofs. Twelve hours a day, the Mwembe market's 150 shops offer locals and visitors a wide range of objects carved in ebony wood. Originating in the traditions of Tanzania's Makondé people, there are three main styles of ebony carving: ujamaa or the tree of life, tall and richly detailed; shaitani, composed of imperfect shapes often alluding to the afterlife; and modern works, depicting the people and animals of the savannah. While the merchants dust, shine and varnish their wares, artists toil patiently and meticulously in an open-air studio, well-sharpened tools in hand. Mwenbe market also has jewellery, clothing and antiques, as well as paintings of the tingatinga movement, a folk-art genre known for the use of brilliant colours. Despite slowing business and the gradual disappearance of raw materials, ebony carving continues, deeply rooted in ever-optimistic Tanzanian tradition. Wander through the Mwembe art market and behold the strength and subtlety of ebony thanks to these precious, vibrant carvings.

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S2.E6 ∙ Otavalo textile market (Ecuador)

Wed, Feb 08, 2017

Before the arrival of the Incas and later the Spanish, the indigenous people of Ecuador were making beautiful textile crafts. Every day, in the city of Otavalo's Ponchos Square, 1500 merchants set up their temporary stands, adorning them with garments, hats, hammocks, blankets, slippers and silk dolls, to the delight of the market's 500,000 annual visitors. Once a traditional garment allowing indigenous people to endure the mountain weather, the poncho - now worn only for wedding ceremonies - is popular with tourists and several export markets. Andean artisan weavers still have the ancient skills to make them, and control their production. While some have traded their traditional looms for modern machines, others proudly carry on the tradition of spinning, threading and weaving by hand. Using cotton, straw or wool they craft heavy fabrics, decorating them with traditional patterns and images such as eagles. Far from fading away, the Ecuadorian textile trade is an integral part of the social fabric for the region's aboriginal people and helps them improve their economic status. On Saturdays, the entire town of Otavalo comes alive. The streets fill with jewellers and pan-flute makers who line the outskirts of the main square. At the foot of the Andes mountain range, merchants, weavers and hatters are the symbol of a living, still relevant tradition. Wander among the lines weighted with wares and gently swaying dream-catchers, and discover the warm, colourful crafts of Ponchos Square.

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S2.E7 ∙ Bukittinggi spice market (Indonesia)

Wed, Feb 15, 2017

Indonesia is a major hub for the spice trade, and the country has long supplied special flavours and aromas for recipes from around the world. The city of Bukittinggi, located on a fertile plateau on the island of Sumatra, is built around its spice market, which dates to the early 19th century. Aromatics, condiments, seasonings and spices fill the market's nearly 2500 colourful, fragrant stalls, visited by hundreds of buyers every day. A cornucopia of flavours, the market's stalls overflow with cinnamon sticks, nutmeg, mustard seed, cloves and great piles of dried peppers. The spices are used in a multitude of ways, not only in Indonesian cuisine. Curried stews, fever remedies, massage oils and skin creams: one way or another, they all make use of spices. The merchants - who make up a majority in the town of Bukittinggi - offer turmeric, lemongrass, ginger and anise, selling up to 20 kg a week. When the market opens in the pre-dawn hours, pay a visit and breathe in an intoxicating blend of countless mingled aromas and flavours. Sitting at the foot of lush green mountains and protected by pretty peaked roofs reminiscent of buffalo horns, the Bukittinggi market will show you where the delicious spices in your kitchen come from.

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S2.E8 ∙ Yogyakarta bird market (Indonesia)

Wed, Feb 22, 2017

Bird lovers are unanimous: the world's most beautiful specimens are found in Indonesia. On the island of Java, in the city of Yogyakarta, enthusiasts flock to the Pasty bird market. From common sparrows to spectacular parrots, our feathered friends are considered symbols of status and success. To the Javanese, a person's pet birds reflect their social standing - their place in the pecking order. In the Pasty market, more than 2000 birds twitter, coo and sing, serenading the market's 400 visitors as they stroll through. Fluttering in their cages or pecking at their food, the turtledoves, pigeons, canaries, lovebirds, pied starlings, zebra finches and Java sparrows impatiently await someone to take them home. The bird trade is a staple of the Javanese economy, and sellers of seed, insects, cages and grooming products also share the market's 15,000 square feet, caring for their wares as they would a rare bird. The 225 breeders welcome not only enthusiasts, but trainers looking for new protégés. On Java, birdsong is a call to competition and a way to make one's fortune. Perched in their colourful, intricate cages, these beloved little animals show off their plumage and sing their songs for the entire Pasty market. Join us near the mystical temples of Prembanan and Borobudur and enjoy this episode - your spirit will soar.

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S2.E9 ∙ Dubai gold market (United Arab Emirates)

Sun, Mar 05, 2017

One of the world's largest gold markets, with more than 300 vendors, this souk boasts the largest concentration of jewellers on the Arabian Peninsula. Throughout, display counters and windows groan under the weight of the brilliant yellow metal, so ubiquitous it starts to strain the eyes. From simple rings to an all-gold wedding dress, from charms to a 2-kilo pendant, here one can spend thousands or millions of dirhams.

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S2.E10 ∙ Oklahoma City livestock market (United States)

Sun, Mar 12, 2017

Located south of downtown Oklahoma City, Stockyard City is the world's largest livestock market. Since its inception, more than 102 million animals have passed through this historic district. Since 1910, ranchers and meat buyers have carried on a trade that keeps the entire country in steaks. Enormous packing plants were opened here in the early 20th century, earning the city the nickname "Packing Town." The packing plants had become run-down by the 1960s and were forced to close, but the livestock trade goes on.

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S2.E11 ∙ Al Ain camel market (United Arab Emirates)

Sun, Mar 19, 2017

Al Ain is the site of the oldest settlements in the UAE, and the camel souk is one of the region's last. Bedouins and city-dwellers alike come here from all over the southern UAE and northern Oman to buy cattle, goats, sheep and camels. Most camels are raised for milk, leather and meat, but some will go on to become champion racers, to the delight of spectators at the Camel Race Track in Al-Marmoum.

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S2.E12 ∙ Luang Prabang sâa paper market (Laos)

Sun, Mar 26, 2017

At nightfall, across from the old Royal Palace, cars and tuk-tuks give way to the several hundred stalls of a night market. Under canopies, merchants arrange their wares on the ground and lanterns create a riot of colours. Most items here are handmade. Calling cards, photo albums, calendars, lampshades, popular images, parasols, lanterns: the market's highly diverse and very refined crafts are all crafted from delicate sâa paper, made from mulberry bark.

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S2.E13 ∙ Bozhou traditional medicine market (China)

Sun, Apr 02, 2017

Western visitors to this market find themselves in a completely unfamiliar world. The 10,000m2 space overflows with dried herbs, roots, flowers and animals. There are buyers for hospitals and pharmaceutical companies, wholesale buyers and individual customers. The market is fascinating both because of the products for sale and its atmosphere. Some 30% of Chinese rely on these medicines, virtually unknown to Westerners.

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