Many cities around the world have markets that form a part of their identity and offer visitors a way to experience the local living environment. Rotterdam’s Markthal (“market hall”) and Thailand’s floating markets are prime examples. In Taiwan, Taipei has the 100-year-old Nanmen Market, which now sports a brand-new exterior and a spacious, brightly lit interior. Though recently renovated, Nanmen continues to deliver the palette of flavors and friendliness for which it has long been known. More than a simple food market, it is a repository for immigrant memories, holiday spirit, fine foods, and crafts.
Growing with Taipei
Wang Quanguo, chair of the Nanmen Market Management Committee, says that the market has always been known as a lively, bustling place. That’s even more true around the Lunar New Year, when it’s filled with seasonal shoppers who queue up in long lines at famous stalls to purchase beloved holiday treats.
The old Nanmen Market was surrounded by staff quarters for military personnel, civil servants and teachers. When the Nationalist government arrived in Taiwan with people from all over China, the market began catering to the new arrivals’ nostalgia for their former homes, providing them with specialties from all over the mainland, from Shanghai-style songgao and braised carp with scallions, to Hunan-style smoked pork and Huzhou-style glutinous rice dumplings.
Generations of immigrants have brought their children here to learn about their culinary heritage, and food lovers also come to hunt for unusual ingredients. The renowned chef Fu Pei-mei used to be a regular customer. Her daughter Angela Cheng frequently accompanied her to the market and still recalls visiting each of the stalls with her.
A five-star traditional market
While other markets often experience high turnover among their vendors, many of Nanmen’s have spent more than half their lives here. They view their stalls as family businesses to be passed down to their heirs. Wang himself grew up at Nanmen, lived in one of the old market lofts, and knows every inch of the place.
Sharing anecdotes, the tells us that Kuaiche (“express train”) dried meats got its name because the market used only to close on the second and 16th days of every lunar month. Kuaiche’s owners would therefore rush back to Chiayi on the night express on the night of the 15th to see their parents and children, and then hurry back to Taipei on the night of the 16th to open the stall again. The Kuaiche name represents the hard work they put into their business and their love for their family.
King Long Jerky, established in 1976, provides an example of the old market’s warmth. Original co-owner Bai Yuqiao says that when her husband, Wang Qinlong, first started the business at Nanmen Market, the stall’s sales were so poor that he thought about giving up. But Nanmen vendors of his father’s generation encouraged him to stick it out, pointing out that the fresh-made pork floss and jerky he made were rare in those days. They argued that the business would eventually take off. They proved to be correct, and King Long has since been passed on to the next generation.
It’s this sort of generational business and mutual support that has enabled Nanmen Market to weather reconstruction and even relocation. More, the vendors’ desire for Nanmen to become even better has made them meticulous about managing the current bright and spacious iteration of the market. Wang Quanguo is particularly proud of the basement meat and produce area, where the floors are sparkling clean and there’s not a hint of a bad smell. The fresh fish are neatly arranged, and the chillers keep the meats fresh all day long.
