Kuanghua Market's business remains booming as always, despite the coming of the electronic commerce era.
"Many people use the Internet to compare prices, but most of them still make their purchases here," Chang said.
While the upper-level bustled with shoppers bargaining for better prices on high-tech products, the underground world attracted book worms of every kind keen to immerse themselves in second-hand martial art novels, comic books, science fiction, and a wide array of other genres, making the market a contrast of new and old, but also an ingenious convergence of traditional reading matter and the latest technology.
Relocation
Although some vendors of 3C products (namely computers, consumer electronics and communications products) have decided to relocate to shops on Bade Road, about 196 Kuanghua Market retailers will move en masse to a temporary venue at the crossroads of Jinshan North Road and Civil Boulevard, before settling down in a yet-to-be-built building behind the crossroads of Hsinsheng South Road.
However, the nearby jade market won't be moving as it is located in a private building.
The temporary site will begin soft-opening on Jan. 18 with a formal unveiling scheduled on Feb. 10, according to the city government's plan.
The construction of the new building to accommodate the retailers is scheduled to begin in February.
The new place is around 100m from the old spot and the city government is targeting its completion for sometime early next year.
"Although I know all the retailers will still be in the new spot, this is an irreplaceable place, full of memories," explained a veteran visitor surnamed Chen.
"I came to have my last visit before it is closed, " he said.
Chen lived in the Kuanghua neighborhood for 20 years before moving to Keelung.
He spent countless weekends in the market's bookstores as a youngster, and later took his wife to join the book feast, and finally his kids.
"I think every city should preserve a few old corners to evoke people's nostalgia for the old times," Chen said, "but as the government gradually tore down the old nooks over time, I don't know what remains for Taipei residents to remind them of the old days."
Despite the sadness of saying goodbye, Tseng Hsueh-hsing (
"I think many of our loyal customers will still call by after we move," Tseng said, while loading books into boxes. "There is no other place in Taiwan to find these treasures."
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