In addition to business concerns, vendors and manufacturers also have living concerns related to their families and employees. They need places to live and their children need schools to attend.

To reassure them, Dongsu has built apartment buildings for them to buy at cost prices. The group has also promised access to education for their children.

Hu Xitian, a 36-year-old vendor from Beijing's famous Dahongmen Morning Market, moved to Cangzhou with his wife and child early this year. His child is going to attend primary school in Cangzhou next year.

"Dongsu Group has made arrangements with local educational authorities to ensure my child's access to a primary school.”

Dongsu's board chairman Yu admitted, “the capital input in the project is huge," but he was confident that as more and more vendors and manufactures gravitate toward Cangzhou, the city would be set to have a thriving garment industry and become a capital of fashion in China and even in the world.

For the dynamic old man, it is a dream coming true.