A visit to Hsinchu’s “Dongmen Youth Base”: new green shoots in the old Dongmen Market
I heard that there is an entrepreneurial base in Hsinchu City hidden in the Dongmen Market, so my curiosity led me to visit this place.
Since I am not familiar with Hsinchu City, I checked the report (opens in a new tab) and found out:
The Dongmen Market was established in 1900, more than a century ago. It was once the largest market in Taiwan. It was transformed into a market in 1977. It was also the first market in Hsinchu to have an escalator.
Over the past century, the market has gone through many changes. In recent years, emerging restaurants and bars have made the Dongmen Market a popular spot for young people to spend their evenings. But starting this year, under the planning of the city government, the third floor of the market is quietly sprouting, and ten young teams have already settled in to start their own businesses.
After looking for Dongmen Market for a while, I found the entrance of Zhongzheng Road. Opposite is the time-honored Menais Food Store in Hsinchu.
In the afternoon, most shops are closed and only kittens pass by. The market on the first floor is very quiet.
It looks like an ordinary market, but with such a cultural signboard, I can vaguely sense that this market is a little different.
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Gradually, I discovered some interesting things in the stairwells and elevator entrances.
In an old and dirty space, these bright paintings look particularly bright.
There is even a sense of fantasy and dissonance that this space should not have.
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The colors used in this series are similar to the color system of Hsinchu City Government (opens in a new tab), and it feels relatively new. It may have been added in recent years:
Even so, not every stairwell is so dazzling. Some stairwells are not painted, which adds to the sense of distance in the silent afternoon.
Later, I still followed the escalator upstairs, and the second floor felt like I was back in time decades ago.
The lacquer painting on the iron door has a wonderful sense of aesthetics. The duck seems to be imitative but not imitative, and the pink-colored fonts (actually in English!), I don’t know which era the work is from.
Going up to the third floor, the Dongmen Youth Base finally opens in front of you.
It showcases the works of street artist Candy Bird.
The row next to it is the new innovation base!
It is understood that Tsinghua University’s Open Door Studio (opens in a new tab) has been renovating this place since 2015. It turns out that this is where the base is located. It was formerly a music house and an art venue. It is really suitable.
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A space can be a young man’s studio or an exhibition room.
It feels like you are in an art gallery in Chatuchak, Bangkok.
We came to the exhibition “Hsinchu Store (opens in a new tab)” which was on sale.
Although there is no one in the exhibition hall (the organizer is so relieved!), you can still feel welcome :)
Currently on display is “Memory of Bamboo Valley: Hayano City”
The space is not large, but Hsinchu specialties and historical items are carefully displayed.
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When you walk out of this area and turn a corner, you will find that other places are not so glamorous. Moreover, this space of two or three square meters is the residence of ordinary people. The beds, electric cookers, and TVs are all in one place, and there are half attics separated by wooden boards, just like a Hong Kong housing estate.
I wonder how many households live there?
It was a too quiet afternoon, and the air was mixed with the smell of market food and old building materials. The old man sat at the door and looked at the depths of the promenade. There were unopened shops on both sides. Several of them were antique antiques, with strange-style paintings on the walls. He didn’t know what impact the new young team had on their lives. It felt inconsistent, but considering that the owner of the antique antiques bar was also a young man, it seemed that they were in the same line.
There is also a typewriter shop! The furnishings inside are exactly the same as in the canvas photo, except for the addition of the boss who is chanting Buddha’s name.
The bathroom also has happy paintings,
Walking out of the balcony, there are strange paintings on the wall.
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Suddenly I felt that this place was so open and tolerant.
Follow the light and walk up to the top floor, you will see a lot of pipelines, with a strong sense of artistic form.
There is text on the wall on the left. It is so faint that it cannot be any lighter, and only then can I see the words “Are you lacking in art?” floating on it.
Echoing the common question “Are you short of a handyman?” on the roadside, it makes people smile.
Walking back to the first floor, several restaurants were open and bustling with people. Everything on the third floor seemed like a world away. I wonder if this vigor will spread to the floors above.
The new startup base in an old market is really a place full of conflicts but peaceful coexistence.
The old market is like mud, dark and stained with various aged and weathered ingredients that are hard to get rid of; new brands are like buds emerging from their shells, so fresh and endearing.
Let’s hope that this century-old soil will feed us and let the young shoots grow strong.
Photo: Lucy Cheng
Further reading
- First trip to India with a group [8 days in the Golden Triangle of Northern India] Part2: JAIPUR
- First trip to India with a group [8 days in the Golden Triangle of North India] Part3: BHARATPUR
- First trip to India with a group [North India Golden Triangle 8 days] Part 4: AGRA
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Vista Cheng speaks and runs workshops on AI workflows, writing and content systems for companies, schools and public agencies.
