Customers buy Spring Festival couplets at the Poli rural market in Qingdao, Shandong province, on Jan 22. Dong Bo/For China Daily

The temperature in Jinan, the capital city of Shandong province, plummeted to — 10 C on Jan 20 — the beginning of the Major Cold solar term.

Residual snow clung to roadsides, and the bitter cold nipped at people's cheeks, turning every breath into a wisp of white mist. It was the coldest day in the city this winter.

Yet by 7 am, the Liubu rural market was sizzling with life. Large iron woks hissed as vendors stir-fried millet flour, a local specialty, and several buyers lined up for niangao glutinous rice cakes.

In the crowd, young people in trendy down jackets and armed with cameras cluttered the century-old market.

"I searched which rural market is open today on Douyin and saw Liubu, so I drove over," said Sun, 25, who traveled for over an hour from Jinan's Shizhong district. "It's freezing after the snow, but I wanted to feel this sense of daily vitality,"Sun said.