The Story of A Small Town in Taiwan

On New Year Day 2014 morning, I walked down a small town in Taiwan and posted a blog here .

The row of market shophouses located at Yilan County located in northern Taiwan.  There were few people and vehicles in the street when I roamed the place to soak in the cold morning air.

At 7.30 am on 1 January, 2014 (New Year Day) at Yilan, Taiwan, the sky was quite dark (Photo above).

The row of market/shophouses along the street was busy with shoppers to buy fresh fishes and seafood, vegetables and fruits and other ingredients and groceries to cook at home.  It was like a "drive-in market" for customers on motor-cycles.

I understand that these wooden shophouses, non-airconditioned, poorly lighted without decorations for business as markets.  In the early days, Yilan was a small town with a small population.

As the town grew bigger, a supermarket was built at the back of the row of market/shophouses.

However, the supermarket did not drive away the business of the traditional markets.  The regular customers have their own choice and preference for their businesses to survive in co-existence in the small town.  The closer human customers-stallholders relationship of a community and neighborhood built up over decades.

Please note the tall imposing structure advertisement in verticle Chinese characters [生鮮用品, 电用品, 体閒食品, 文貝,  五金]  (Fresh supplies, electrical supplies, convenient food, stationery, hardware) to attract the attention of shoppers, at a location to dwarf the wooden shop buildings.

臻信福生活賣場
地址: 宜蘭縣礁溪鄉中山路二段92號之1
電話/Tel: 03-988-0522
所在縣市: 宜蘭縣
所屬分類: 購物, 百貨購物, 百貨賣場, 超級市場
 

 

Somehow I still prefer the old-fashioned, wet-market like Singapore.  The friendly, humble village folks there could notice that I am a foreigner, not a local in Taiwan.  I was a guest to a small town in Taiwan.

Or maybe because they like bald guys and often smile at me with greetings.  I love the small town in Taiwan.  Please watch the 小城故事 by Teresa Teng in 1980.  The lyrics in Chinese and English, and her popular song of another version on YouTube available here
.