Anping Traditional Market, Filled with Our Everyday Life
"Look at these little cucumbers and eggplants, one coin each," Mom's face was full of excitement and joy. The most successful spoils of today's trip to the market were probably these.
I touched the eggplant's glistening purple skin and its curved, firm flesh, and my heart truly marveled at nature's wonder, so beautiful; of course, without my mother's diligence and care and her years of accumulated market-shopping experience, how could she have bought such good and cheap ingredients? Thinking that tonight's dinner table would have a dish of my favorite eggplant stewed with meat, it really made my mouth water.
From our old home in Chongyi Military Dependents' Village, riding straight (by bicycle) along Anbei Road to Anping Market (Pingsheng Road) took about ten minutes. Because of this convenient location, my mother went to the market almost every day to buy fresh ingredients, especially the seafood just shipped out from the fish market in the early morning, and vegetables still touched with dew. As the four seasons turned, different wonderful dramas were also staged on our family's dinner table—–sweet-and-sour yellow croaker, steamed cod, yam stewed chicken soup, potato stir-fried with green beans, spinach stir-fried with pork liver, and so on.
For any dish the family members could think of, my mother always found a way to make it. This was truly a great skill. If Mom was the family's great magician, then Anping Market was the wonderful place that provided us with joy and love.
As my parents gradually grew older and moved to my eldest brother's home in Taipei, strolling through Anping Market became for me a journey of memory, or perhaps more like a kind of nostalgia. I always first went to greet and chat with the old stalls my mother often visited, and only then began to think about how much to buy today. As for the prices, I never calculated carefully; as long as it was fresh and tasty, that was enough. If Mom were beside me at such times, she would surely nag several more times about how to save money.
As for how to describe my current market-shopping journey——naturally it has to begin with Pingsheng Road, bustling like a marketplace on both sides. Because it is located in a busy district and also connects to important old streets and neighborhoods such as Yanping Street and Xiaozhong Street, and the historic district is not far from here, there are naturally many people coming and going. Add to that the needs of local residents, and it is able to attract all kinds of vendors, large and small, to gather here.
Small farmers selling vegetables and fruits, or medium-sized vegetable wholesale stalls, stage interesting scenes of shopping and haggling every day. Other stallholders from various places are all kinds of colorful characters, from traditional authentic Taiwanese large flatbreads, handmade breads and cakes, to fresh juices such as mulberry and sugarcane, household daily necessities, and pretty clothes and shoes, and so on. It is truly delicious and fun. The expressions of everyone striving for their own livelihood seem like a vivid ukiyo-e print. Today I actually saw a stall selling Meinong white radishes; their delicate and cute appearance was really lovable. I bought a big bag, planning not only for myself but also to give some to neighbors and friends.
As for the historically significant old market (dating back as far as 4 BC), you have to walk to the intersection of Pingsheng Road and Zhongxing Street, turn right, and you can see a medium-sized two-story market. At present, in order to improve the impression that traditional markets are hot, humid, and messy, it has already been reorganized. On the outer wall, eye-catching signs are neatly arranged one after another, and at the entrance there is also a marquee flashing new messages from time to time. This is the latest situation of Anping Traditional Market: modernized, clean, and air-conditioned.
Although it is not as lively and varied as the vendors on Pingsheng Road, buying groceries here is much more comfortable. Moreover, the vendors are classified by management onto the first and second floors. For example, fish, pork, chicken, and vegetables are located on the second floor, while daily necessities and snacks are located on the first floor. In this way, the fishy smell of meat can only be smelled on the second floor, and other things to buy can be found very efficiently on the first floor.
The vendors doing business here have generally been at it for years, so most are familiar faces. Their honest faces and friendly greetings make people very happy, and customers naturally chat about everything under the sun. They did not dislike me either when I asked all sorts of questions in broken Taiwanese; instead, they joked a little and even taught me how to pick good fresh ingredients. It was really great.
But what left the deepest impression was a certain uncle on the second floor selling free-range mountain chicken. His stall was always packed with people. Guess why, why was he so popular? Because—–the uncle also served as a "tang-ki" spirit medium, so more people came to consult him than to buy chicken. My mother and I had come a few times, so naturally we also took some talismans. The taste of drinking them with hot water was really quite special. As for whether they worked or not, opinions varied.
The market inside the building has a self-governing association with three staff members. The chairman himself is a local Anping native. Before retiring, he ran a stall on the second floor selling fish, and his wife also sold hot pot ingredients on the first floor. Plain and dark-skinned, he had already served as chairman for nine years. While helping me collect information and answer some questions, he kept saying, "Write good things." When the secretary discussed some existing difficulties with him, this lovable chairman still did not forget to remind me, "Don't write the bad things." I quietly figured I would probably just make some suggestions or observations of the situation.
Online marketing for the market may be the part most in need of manpower right now. Although there is a computer in the office, it stopped because of insufficient experience and skills, which is quite a pity. The stalls on the first floor have been gradually decreasing over these past few years. Meanwhile, two fruit and vegetable vendors on Pingsheng Road were very enthusiastic and exchanged some experiences with me. The main premise is still that economic contraction and rising unemployment have reduced buyers' willingness to spend, so vendors have no choice but to lower prices and promote sales.
On the surface, buyers got a bargain, but it came at the expense of the fruit farmers' years of hard work and effort. Being able to fill their stomachs and take care of their families already counts as good luck. Looking at their weathered eyes made me a little sad. This needs strong consensus between the government and the people and efforts to improve it——so, doing my humble bit, I bought some more fruits and vegetables and promised them I would come often. I really do not want a market I like so much to disappear like this.
Recently COSCO also set up a store in West Central District, Tainan. Its membership card marketing method was very successful. At that time, the hottest topic among women compatriots was "Have you applied for the card yet?"—–I was tempted for a moment, but in the end I did not apply. I still like strolling through my own Anping Market, with its unique style, its warm and interesting vendors, and the experience my mother left me. When I was about to leave the market, I was pondering stewing a pot of pork rib and radish soup, and by my ear seemed to drift my mother's voice, "Radish is cooling in nature, so it should be added appropriately; simmer over low heat, and only then will the broth be fragrant"——mm, I know.