(211205) -- BEIRUT, Dec. 5, 2021 (Xinhua) -- A customer picks clothes at a thrift shop in Beirut, Lebanon, Dec. 3, 2021. Thrift shops, also known as "baleh" in Arabic, were not popular shopping places for the Lebanese in the past. They used to visit malls and other famous shopping streets in Hamra, Verdun, Jounieh and Kaslik. However, Lebanon's severe financial crisis depreciated the Lebanese pound and crippled people's income, forcing them to turn to thrift stores for second-hand bargains. TO GO WITH "Feature: Thrift stores become popular in crisis-hit Lebanon" (Xinhua/Bilal Jawich)