Yabao Road is known for its bargains and the Russian Market, which is situated to its north. [Photo by Feng Yongbin/China Daily]

By the mid-1990s the market had a reputation for selling reasonably good products at a low price, but that reputation was left threadbare when many buyers became aware that so-called quality goods they were buying were fakes. Sales were hurt, and it would take several years for them to pick up once dealers began to smarten up their act.

Ding Peihua, a professor of Russian studies at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, says that a decade or so later, in the wake of the world financial crisis, Russia's domestic market has turned sluggish, and that was exacerbated by the instability of the rouble and high inflation.

"There used to be four Russian restaurants and bars close to the Ritan Hotel, but now most are closed or have been sold by their Russian owners who have returned to Russia because business is so bad," lobby manager Yin says.

Wang Meng, a Beijing clothing trader who has done business in Yabao Plaza for more than 10 years, says: "We used to put chairs outside for the benefit of customers standing in long queues, but now there is simply nobody there."

A pedicab driver waiting in front of Tianya Plaza, said he used to have very high takings every day but recently he has been lucky if he takes 200 yuan a day. As he talked to China Daily he repeatedly beckoned prospective fares leaving the plaza. His appeals, in Russian he says he taught himself, met with few responses.

"I feel bad about business, and I barely get a customer or two a day."

A leather gloves vendor who asked to be identified only by his surname, Cai, working in a 5-square-meter store on the ground floor of Yabao Plaza, says: "The only thing I can do is stay in this small shop waiting for bargain hunters. If I don't I'm going to lose more money because I pay my annual rent a year in advance. I really hope business picks up."