A plan by the Taipei City Government to build an international youth hostel above a traditional market met opposition yesterday, with critics saying the market’s poor construction and sanitary conditions could hurt the city’s image abroad.
The proposed location for the youth hostel, the first city-operated youth hostel in Taipei, would be on the second floor of Shuanglian Market near the Shuanglian MRT Station. The 33-year-old market is a four-story building, with the first floor and underground floor housing food stalls and a wet market.
New Party Taipei City Councilor Wang Hong-wei (王鴻薇) said she had concerns over the quality of the environment at the proposed site and called on the city government to find a better -location for the hostel.
“The first international youth hostel in Taipei City should be a model with the highest quality. What would become of Taipei’s international image if the city offered foreign tourists a youth hostel that is above an old market that sells raw meat?” she said after inspecting the market.
Jessica Huang (黃雅智), chief executive of the Taiwan Youth Hostel Association, joined Wang in challenging the city government’s choice of location.
The poor appearance of the building and the stalls at the market, she said, would not be the best living environment for tourists.
Ding Juo-ting (丁若亭), director of Taipei City’s Market Management Office, said the second floor of the building had been vacant since 1996 and the office planned to turn the abandoned area into a youth hostel that is equipped with 70 to 80 rooms, or 160 beds.
The price of a room would be less than NT$1,400 per night, and the office would set aside a budget of about NT$5 million (US$169,000) next year to start renovations, he said.
He added that the location was chosen because it would given foreign tourists a chance to experience local culture.
Ding said the hostel would be conveniently located near an MRT station and Ningxia Night Market, and the office would work on improving the overall environment and sanitary conditions to build a quality hostel.
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