Kuanghwa mirrors tech era's rise

Located in the underbelly of one of Taipei's busiest highway bridges, Kuanghwa Market (光華商場) is not appealing from the outside. And venturing through one of the four grungy entrances to the inside, things don't get a whole lot better.

Shoppers in this cramped rabbit warren-like market are greeted by a floor peppered with the remnants of chewed gum, filthy walls and air thick with the lingering odor of stale sweat.

But then the tens of thousands of people who flock to the indoor market on any given weekend aren't there for the decor. They also aren't there for the ambiance. There is, after all, little solace and even less enjoyment in being pushed, shoved and elbowed by hundreds of shoppers all of whom are either walking in opposite directions or coming to sudden standstills in a corridor that measures less than 1.5m in width.

Perhaps out of necessity, most of the shoppers take the gridlock in stride. It's all part of the experience of shopping at Kuanghwa Market.

You get what you get

"I think the crowds and pushing and shoving are some of the things that makes the market unique," explains Big Huang (大黃), a portly teenager trying to snake his way through the throng of people. "I reckon if the place was cleaned up and made to look like a modern shopping mall there'd be less people coming here. My mom won't come here, though!"

It's not only teenagers like Huang who believe the constant melee is one of the market's endearing characteristics. Ko Rui-tai (柯瑞泰), head of the market's organizational committee, agrees that nearly everyone he's spoken with finds the entire Kuanghwa Market push and shove experience quite engaging.

"You only have to look at how many people visit the new underground shopping mall built near the train station to see how odd the situation there is," says Ko. "The corridors are wide, the paint work fresh and the stores well lit and with plenty of space for shoppers to browse. Here it's the complete opposite, but we still see more people coming here to shop on weekends than that new mall could ever hope to see. Secretly, I think people in Taiwan like bumping into other people while they shop."

So despite, or maybe because of the large crowds and cramped environment, the market has become one of the most popular and frequented markets in Taipei since it opened in 1973.

"The market has always been a popular feature of the city. It wasn't until the mid-1980s that the numbers of people coming here really grew to the numbers that we have today," Ko said. "I guess the reason the place has become so popular has a lot to do with the way in which the market has grown over the years."

Currently, shoppers at the market can find everything from computer software to VCD hardcore pornography, the latest Nike sneakers and even Rambo knives. When it first opened, however, the market specialized in more cerebral pastimes.

A book lover's hideout

Opened as part of a city government plan to rid the sidewalks of street-side vendors, the maze of stores that sit entombed under the Kuanghwa Bridge (光華橋) were originally intended to house the many secondhand book and antiques vendors who had been removed from the city streets.

The basement level boasted more than 20 small bookstores trading in comic books, periodicals, legal tomes and adult literature, among other genres. The ground floor, meanwhile, was filled with antique stores stocked with treasures from bygone and not-so-bygone days.