Cheng Ching-hsiang (鄭青祥) turned a small triangle of concrete jammed between two old shops into a cool little bar called 9dimension.
In front of the shop, a steampunk-like structure was welded by himself to serve as a booth where he prepares cocktails.
“Yancheng used to be just old people,” he says, “but now young people are coming and creating the New Yancheng.”
Photo: Julien Oeuillet
Around the corner, Yu Hsiu-jao (饒毓琇), opened Tiny Cafe. True to its name, it is the size of a cupboard and serves cold-brewed coffee.
“Small shops are so special and have personality,” she says, “people come to Yancheng to find such treasures.”
She carved her counter from a 1970s television and lets customers select jazz and funk music from a smartphone hanging on the wall.
Photo: Julien Oeuillet
“Yancheng was like dusk, and now it’s a rising sun,” she says, “but it still has its slow vibe.”
NEW VIBE
Yancheng is the oldest district of Kaohsiung. Although the city’s shoreline has been entirely redesigned into the fancy Pier-2 Art Center, the pinnacle of Kaohsiung’s renaissance as a city of arts and culture, inland the old streets and covered galleries were left mostly untouched.
Photo: Julien Oeuillet
Now a young generation, attracted by low rents and rough authenticity, is starting small businesses.
Zhang Zhi-ning (張致寧) created a vintage clothes shop five years ago called Laomao Shanghang (老耄商行). “It means something like ‘old men,’ as in ‘old fashioned,’” he says, “because I love old fashion styles.”
Though from Taipei, Zhang now considers himself a “Yancheng person.” Several of the young people working in these shops come from other places such as Taipei or Taichung, where they say social inequality is higher.
Photo: Julien Oeuillet
While the city government was heavily involved in the renovation of Pier-2, it took a more hands-off approach to Yancheng. But it did make one big contribution: the restoration of the former covered market, which is now the nexus of its renewal.
“Before it was dark and dirty,” Zhang says, “now it’s full of light and very beautiful. Since they updated this building many people come. It’s still old-fashioned, but updated.”
Since then, young shopkeepers have flocked to it and the place has grown organically.
Photo: Julien Oeuillet
The covered market still has some booths made of slant marble once used by butchers and fishermen. Now they host small restaurants and novelty shops, adorned with posters by local bands or artists.
One of them is MadDog, a taco and burrito restaurant opened in 2022 by a young local, Hsu Jiong-gang (許炯罡).
“I am a phoenix,” he says. “I was like a zombie before, I did not know what to do with my life. I just worked and rested and drank! Since I have this store, I have a purpose. Like I restarted my life.”
CATERING TO YOUNG LOCALS
All these young shopkeepers report seeing some tourists walking over from Pier-2, but mostly they cater to young locals, who make Yancheng a focal point.
According to Hsu, “people are the best thing about Yancheng. They have more passion. They will introduce their stores and their stories, they want to make friends.”
Zhang concurs: “People come back again, they remember me, my story, my shop, and even my staff.”
Hsu noted that most older shopkeepers are active in the morning, operating small shops in the covered galleries that connect the streets, meaning they interact with the younger ones in the middle of the day.
In these galleries, old Taiwanese songs play over speakers, and the old-timers sell clothes, teapots, antiques, or even services such as fortune-telling and massages. All blend into a deliciously retro ambiance, far from modern malls.
There was a risk that Yancheng would die out as the old shopkeepers retired.
The new blood is keeping the authentic vibe and rough, humble atmosphere intact while reshaping it for an artsy, colorful, younger generation.
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