Pawn Shop

[Ian_Lee]

Just curious. Is there still any pawn shop in Mainland China?

There are still many pawn shops in HK and Macau. And interestingly Pawn Shop is one of the few industries that has not changed a bit at least for the last 50 years.

Pawn Shop hangs out a weird neon-light sign in special bat-shape:

http://mikopi.image.pbase.com/u36/accl/small/24616396.170_7049.jpg

And at the front entrance, there is a super font red color 押 printed on its facade. (But in pre-'49 China, the pawn shops in Northern China printed the big character 當 on their sign instead.) However, in Cantonese usually we say we go to 當 some valuables in lieu of 押 some valuables.

Moreover, the pawn shop owner must have a thorough understanding of customer psychology. The front facade is used to hide the customer from letting other pedestrians see him go into the shop. And the cashier stand behind the facade is so high that the customer has to hold his stuff over his head to the cashier for estimate. It is said that such setting makes the customers feel humiliating that he dares not bargain.

And in the receipt, the cashier usually describes the collateral as a broken item albeit it is in perfect good shape.

Even though personal financing is available in the bank at almost street corner in Hong Kong, pawn shop still has its own surviving space. One of the pawn shops even occupies prime shop space in Central which demands US$30,000 in rent/month.

[quiet sunshine]

Yes, I once saw one in the town here several years ago, but never went into it. I guess it's a new thing, just appreared recently, but I suspect if it can exist long.