Market Dreams on Central Street: A Small Market Carries Big Dreams

Lead photo/ Street scene outside the shops on Central Street in Penghu

The story began with the wish to hold a farmers' market in Penghu. But in 2011 we did not manage to complete it, and in 2012 it may not be completed either. For now we are simply working hard toward that market dream.

In May I visited Penghu for the first time. I did not know this place at all. After a group of us played for three days, I stayed another three days to do a work exchange with a new friend who runs a guesthouse, moving into a seaside house. Only on the last day did I do the "work exchange" task - organizing books, finding foreign-language books suitable for elementary school students to read, and cleaning the bookcase along the way. Only then did I learn that the person I was doing the work exchange for was a foundation.

The group that had pushed the anti-casino campaign the year before last wanted to do more for Penghu after the referendum, so they prepared to establish a foundation to promote education, agriculture, marine conservation and so on. After learning that I had volunteered at markets for several years, they hoped I could share my experience and help bring a market into being. So in July and August I returned to Penghu for a full two months of work exchange, gained a thorough understanding of the foundation's current situation, and, knowing that it was not suitable to open a market in the short term, I turned to helping with something else - assisting with the recording of the weekly radio program "Penghu New Vision," transcribing the interview content into text, and maintaining the blog.

At the end of September I found time to go to Penghu again and moved my household registration there so I could enjoy the "offshore island resident ticket" discount on flights. At the same time I agreed to become a part-time researcher for the foundation, responsible for agriculture and markets on the one hand and also taking part in education on the other, because I wanted to start a marine elementary school and felt that Penghu ought to have a concept school themed around the ocean. Otherwise, it would be too much of a letdown to the ocean that nurtures it and to the beauty of an island.

The sandy shore in winter in Penghu

In October, the BOT case at Aimen Beach occurred in Penghu, sparking much discussion on the foundation's Facebook group page. Several founders also tried every possible way to express their opposition, so for the first time in my life I entered the venue of an environmental impact assessment review meeting at the Environmental Protection Administration in Taipei and spoke on behalf of the group for three minutes. I called myself a new immigrant to Penghu and, under the name of the foundation's marine education promotion team, spoke very emotionally about hoping there would no longer be large buildings on the beach, so that children could have the chance to know the beach directly instead of knowing the ocean only through photos and textbooks. Fortunately, the Penghu National Scenic Area Administration later decided to withdraw the case first, which counted as a successful battle.

That is roughly how I became connected to Penghu. As for the market dream on Central Street, I feel it still needs a longer time to brew. At the very least, we have to go often, and ideally establish a presence there. Otherwise, the market would seem very abrupt to the shops on the street and the nearby residents.

Street scene in Magong, Penghu

Central Street is in a very lively part of downtown Magong. It is an old street that has already undergone joint redevelopment, so every house has become the same and the original sense of layering has been lost, which is a bit of a pity. But tourists still go there, because the 400-year-old Tianhou Temple historic site stands at its head, and residents also go strolling there to some extent.

The first time I went, I really liked the small square inside the street, which has a wall of coral stone. A group of seven or eight friends and I took lots of photos there. It has an atmosphere that makes people happy for no apparent reason. We also really liked Tianhou Temple. It is rare to find a Mazu temple that is not glittering with gold and jade. The building, where wood and stone lean on each other, has no excessive colorful decoration, and its plain elegance makes people stop and gaze, and lets them simply appreciate the depth of time.

Central Street has the right timing and the right location. Some regrets may already have been caused, but that is all right. She is still a good place to dream.

The 400-year-old Tianhou Temple historic site stands at the head of Central Street.

We interviewed a friend who already runs a specialty products shop on Central Street, and he came on the radio program to talk about industry and creativity. His mother is in Jiangmei, a place abundant in nori. The villagers formed a nori production and marketing team to produce cooperatively, but in the peak production period they once had an unsold inventory problem. He thought: could it be because every household only knows how to make nori egg drop soup, so the amount used is too small? So he set out to develop new products, and along the way created nori cuttlefish balls, nori balls, nori noodles, and other nori processed products rarely seen on the market. In the early days he even made dumplings and steamed buns.

One sentence he said left a deep impression on me: "Rather than saying I want to do something for the place, it is better to say the place is taking care of us. After all, we are the ones consuming the place's (resources)!" He also said frankly that in cooperating with farmers and fishermen, there is no need to say too many high-sounding words. Thinking about their livelihoods and enabling them to raise their incomes is what the place wants.

In 2011, he developed concentrated cactus juice, sauce-dried fish, aloe drink and so on. He raised the concentration of the raw cactus juice and lowered the proportion of sugar so it tastes more refreshing and flavorful. He did not want salted dried fish to harden and become hard to chew by the next meal, so he added sauce and preserved it in jars, making it suitable both as a gift and for personal use. One whole bottle of his aloe drink is all aloe, nothing else, to let everyone know there is no need to make it into a "gel," because the pulp of this plant is naturally thick.

"If the cactus juice given to guests is overly diluted and has too much sugar added, then that is really insincere! Think about it: people travel a long way to visit for a few days, and you let them take back something like that. It feels bad when they eat it, and it is unhealthy when they swallow it. How could they have a good impression of Penghu?"

So the things he makes are all a bit different from other people's. I remember that around that time there was a plasticizer scandal in Taiwan, and many people began to want things that were "original and authentic." But that does not mean they are "simpler." "You have to discard unnecessary modern additives! But actually, 'adding' and 'not adding' take the same amount of thought and time. It just depends on which direction the maker chooses to think in."

That was the sentence that made me realize: adding and not adding are two directions, and one side is not necessarily a shortcut! Or perhaps neither is a shortcut at all!

"In Penghu, it is not easy for young people to have goals and ideas, because information on the outlying islands is limited. If you want to see some exhibition, you have to arrange vacation time and take a plane out." He raised the problem of environmental limitations, because creativity is not some gift that falls from the sky. Absorbing information, exchanging with the outside world, bringing in professional expertise... these are the sources before brainstorming can happen.

"Creativity" cannot be produced out of thin air, and "innovation" is even less likely to be achieved by working behind closed doors. But because "only when doing this can I feel that people are full of vitality!" he is still very happy to continue researching and developing. This friend, already on Central Street, exists according to exactly this ideal.

It is precisely about keeping the vitality of Penghu people and giving warmth to island residents. The off-season for tourism is exactly the time for residents to savor life well. Why not do it?

An elderly woman buying cake at a new shop on Central Street

The good news is that he will not be alone. We already have another couple, friends who have just returned to Penghu from Taiwan, who have opened a cake and pastry shop on Central Street, also developing Penghu peanuts, cactus and so on into specialty snacks, such as cactus cream puff towers and peanut thin cookies, all handmade. They began trial sales before the Lunar New Year and won the affection of local people. Even though there are hardly any tourists in winter, the little shop still opens for business.

In addition, in an alley beside Central Street, a young woman has rented an old single-story house and is preparing to make an exhibition space. In May this year there will be the first photography exhibition. At the corner storefront at the street entrance, another young man wants to create a mixed food and beverage space, and also wants to curate exhibitions, hold lectures and organize events. And there is also me, secretly plotting to open a small bookstore as everyone's spiritual fortress, or even a revolutionary base for public issues in Penghu...

These things that seem not very related to the market dream at the beginning are in fact very important. They are meant to make this street warm in winter too and unafraid in summer. We believe that one day, the dreamed-of small community square market will be born.

The coral stone + vegetable basket method of growing vegetables developed to resist the wind!!