Treasure hunting at Taichung's specialty markets

By Douglas Habecker and Lishea Chen
Translated by Ann Lee

For quite some time, Taichung city has been well-known as the home of some enormous department stores, not to mention a good number of respectable malls, shopping arcades, designer boutiques and other shops. However, as most residents and a good number of jaded visitors will tell you, some of the best shopping fun is found not in the air-conditioned glass, marble and chrome settings of these establishments but, rather, in a number of specialty markets scattered across the city. These colorful venues offer an appealingly-exotic mix of products, as vendors and customers press against each other amidst controlled chaos that is often crowded, noisy and very enjoyable.

As noted above, the focus here is on specialty markets and excludes the city's main night markets on ZhongHua Road and in the Feng Chia University area. While some of the markets described below, such as the Taichung WenXin Jade Market, are well on their way to becoming definitive, must-see tourist attractions, others--like the Gan Cheng Flea Market--have yet to be discovered by many shoppers, or appear to have been forgotten or overshadowed in recent years. Each in its own way is well worth visiting, whether you've spent your entire life in Taichung, or happen to be in town for a couple days.

Saturday Jade Market
As its name indicates, this market is only open on Saturdays, from about 8 or 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. By far the oldest of Taichung's three jade markets, it also offers what is arguably the most exotic market setting in the city, perfect not only for shopping but also photographers on a quest for local color. Despite this fact, the market sees very few foreign visitors (good or bad, depending on your perspective). Dozens, if not hundreds, of itinerant vendors set up flimsy tables on sidewalks and cramped, covered alleyways along and inside the old city block opposite Taichung Park. This slightly-seedy area--enclosed by GongYuan, GuangFu and ShiFu roads and PingDeng Street--used to house the city's most popular cinemas and now contains a host of tiny, run-down businesses, from pawn shops to noodle vendors.
The vendors here tend to focus more on selling smaller items, from the exquisite and beautiful to cheap and gaudy. This enormous variety includes plenty of Burmese jade pendants and other jewelry, polished and raw precious and semi-precious stones, genuine and faux antiques, tea pots, vases, Chinese-knot necklaces, embroidery, beads and other DIY jewelry items, and jewelry made from silver, amber, marble and coral. Naturally, there is a very eclectic collection of other odds and ends, from Tibetan tankas to souvenir plates from the 1980 Moscow Olympics. For parking, try the large nearby underground public lot beneath the park, with access signs along SanMin Road.

Taichung WenXin Jade Market
Since opening over a decade ago, this market has grown in popularity to become not only well-known among locals but one of Taichung's most visited foreign-tourist destinations. On any given weekend, a good number of camera-draped foreigners can be seen wandering among the tables, snapping photos, haggling over prices and drinking tea with hospitable merchants, who seem quite used to their guests from afar. While pricing potential presents here one week before returning to America for Christmas, this writer was nailed dead-cold by a vendor, who glanced up and said, "You're going home and looking for a Christmas gift, right?"
Open Friday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., the Taichung WenXin Jade market is housed in a warehouse-like structure on WenXin Road, Section 2, just off of TaiZhongGang Road, giving it a more orderly, established feeling. Vendors are organized along long rows of tables, with offered products being a mix of small and larger items. A few permanent shops also line the inside walls. While many of the wares are similar to those at the Saturday Jade Market (including, of course, plenty of jade jewelry), there are also items like pottery, sculptures, paintings, religious ornaments and statues, clothing, wood carvings, traditional Chinese "pillow boxes", jewelry boxes, chess sets, traditional and modern tea sets and tea leaves.

ShiZheng Road Jade Market
Shoppers seeking a jade market on a weekday need not worry, thanks to this relatively-unknown market, open Tuesday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Closely resembling the WenXin Jade Market, this slightly-smaller venue is located in a building at 615, ShiZheng Road; heading west towards the Freeway on ShiZheng Road, it's about half a block up on the left after the LiMing Road intersection. In existence now for about six years, the market contains 30 to 40 vendors, also spread out along rows of long tables. There are more permanent shops here, too, selling antiques and other products.

Gan Cheng Flea Market
Gan Cheng Flea Market has a vast array of gadgets that almost exceeds your imagination, from new, cool items to second-hand merchandise and antiques. You name it, there's something here for everyone. Despite the variety of fascinating goods found here, visitors will be even more delighted to find that prices are extremely affordable. No doubt this helps explain the big weekend crowds, serviced by numerous vendor carts selling refreshments.

This busy shopping venue is located close to Taichung Park (aka Zhong Shan Park). To get there, simply drive on ZiYou Road near the train station until you come to FuXing Road. Upon arriving, it's easy to become infatuated with everything you see. This may include things from childhood days like vinyl records, a variety of electrical appliances, musical instruments, paintings and other artifacts like woodcarvings and stone paintings. Unique antiques have a special charm, but are best evaluated by those who can tell the good from bad.

In the center of the market is a vendor selling stylish desk clocks, brought in from around the world by the owner. Eye-catching items here include a distinctive German clock designed to resemble geared machinery wheels, with a small steel ball at the bottom of the clock functioning as the second hand. Three years ago, the flea market had 250 vendors but today that number has already grown to about 300. Business hours start as early as 4 a.m. and run until 1:30 p.m. year round. In earlier days, these mobile street vendors could not make a living in here, due to bans placed by the police. However, today, the market offers explorers interesting surprises everywhere.

Hui Wen Plaza (Flower Market)
Its excusable if this market is more commonly referred to as the Flower Market, as dozens of flower vendors line the large city block housing it. Located in the city's more modern Seventh Redevelopment Zone, the block is outward-facing shops on its periphery--bordered by XiangShang Road, Section 2, HuiWen and DaGuan roads, and DaDun 11th Street. Most of these feature a colorful assortment of orchids, other flowers and garden plants, with some small restaurants and snack bars among them. Along with the flowers, there are also a number of fruit vendors.
Almost hidden from sight is a shopping area located inside the block under a high roof. The main entrace is on HuiWen Road and brings visitors to a series of small shops organized in orderly, uniform rows. These sell antiques, religious artifacts, Chinese clothing and a wide range of decorative items and other knickknacks. The businesses are open daily from about 11 a.m. to 8 or 9 p.m. In addition, there's a small stage where the market's committee holds special activities, usually of a traditional culture nature.