The Taipei City Government plans to turn the abandoned Jiancheng Circle market in Datung District (大同) into a farmers’ market by the end of this year in an effort to boost sales of Taiwanese agricultural products.
The Jiancheng Circle market, a historic market that dates back to the Japanese colonial era, had been turned into a banquet venue following a failed renovation project in 2006, but closed in April because of a lack of business.
In its latest attempt to revive the site at the intersection of Chongqing N Road and Nanjing W Road, the city organized a three-day farmers’ market on the site that began on Friday, selling fruit and produce from local farmers’ associations throughout the nation.
Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) yesterday said the farmers’ market had received positive reviews from the public and successfully promoted Taiwanese produce, such as apples from Dayuling (大禹嶺), persimmons from Nantou County and oolong tea from Yilan County.
Following the trial run last weekend, the city plans to turn the site into a permanent farmers’ market by the end of this year, Hau said.
“Taiwan is a kingdom of fruit and we are hoping to expand the scale of the farmers’ market and make it a venue for local fruits and agricultural products,” he added.
Taipei Deputy Mayor Chen Hsiung-wen (陳雄文) will lead a task force to build communication channels with agriculture associations nationwide that will allow farmers from throughout Taiwan to sell their products at the Jiancheng Circle market.
The Jiancheng Circle was Taipei’s oldest food market. It was turned into a three-story glass building in 2006 as part of a large-scale renovation launched by then-Taipei mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), but it was later forced to close later after the project failed to boost local businesses.
Hau’s team leased the building to a private company that turned the market into a banquet venue in 2009.
Chen said in addition to the farmers’ market, which will be located on the first floor of the three-story building, the city plans to place a food court on the second floor and set up a exhibition hall on the third floor to promote the history of the Dadaocheng (大稻埕) area.
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