Time flies like an arrow
Fruit flies like a banana
A brand new year is round the corner
After grieving over the lost of your sexy abs
Wipe your tears
put on new clothes
And get ready for the lively and exciting New Year!
It’s the New Year
the most important thing
is family reunions
and eat till your heart’s content
Next,
drop by a neighbor’s house… and eat till your heart’s content
Yeah! After the heart’s content
Swing by another neighbor’s house and eat till your heart’s content... again
This goes on for countless rounds
It’s like a ten-days-running battle
In order to be prepared for the battle, people do their Holiday food shopping beforehand
“So, where can we get all the food?”
You must go to Chinese New Year Bazaars
Although Chinese New Year Bazaars are found everywhere in Taiwan nowadays
these were places that rise later on
They couldn't beat out the oldest and most valuable “Dihua Street”
If you think
“Dihua Street? Isn’t that just a street?”
then you underestimated its value
This is a street witness to Taiwan’s social, economic and cultural development
Many of Taiwan’s time-honored enterprises originated in this street
In the late 19th century,
Dadaocheng wharf began to prosper thanks to tea trade
Dry goods, cloth and Chinese herbal medicine are imported along with tea
In order to attract more customers
owners began to spend great fortune on renovating their stores
After years of make over
Dihua Street gradually become what we see today
Oh, another thing about Dihua Street
is that it is super duper narrow
Dihua Street, with centuries of history, fabulous architecture and street width... ONLY 7.8 METERS
Hold on, 7.8 meters is seriously narrow!
In this narrow Dihua Street, people mountain people sea
I push you and you push me wow~ so cozy
then it became unprosperous. So sad
No! Owners of Dihua Street need customers!
“So, where can we get all the food?”
The most straightforward idea is, vehicles bring customers, and customers bring business
In 1977, Dihua Street expansion plan
was launched under the expectation of the owners
It was supposed to widen this narrow street built in the Qing Dynasty
into 20 meters, just like normal street does
Needless to say
how heinous this plan might be
Many precious historical architectures
will disappear under the arms of excavator
Demolished!
Therefore many people decided to stood against the plan
Suddenly people were divided into two,
the “Street Expansion Supporting Group”
and the protecting historical architectures’
“Historical Architectures Protecting Group”
The two groups argued on and on
until 1995
The government had to pause the expansion plan
Many of the historical architectures were preserved
and no one killed themselves
Congrats! What a happy ending
“Wait a sec, the problem is still unresolved!”
“So how do we bring customers?”
“Umm, how about selling Chinese New Year’s goods?”
And then, “Chinese New Year Bazaar Plan” was officially launched
Days before Chinese New Year’s in 1996
all the owners and venders
worked their tails off trying to draw customers
All sorts of unique promotions
like giving out chocolate gold ingots, or shaking hands with the mayor
made Chinese New Year Bazaar a great success
People flooded in
and created a miraculous fusion of ancient and modern times
Since then, Dihua Street became the most “bizarre” Chinese New Year Bazaar in Taiwan
May your New Year be a year of health and happiness, wealth and wisdom
A year of glee and glow, peace and prosperity, love and laughter
Today, we can see Chinese New Year Bazaar that came from Dihua Street in Beijing,
Shanghai and even Los Angeles
Chinese New Year Bazaar had become a brand new cultural symbol
It’s totally a wonderful combination of history and industry
Recently, there are many emerging stores that entered Dihua Street
and attracted many youngsters and foreigners
It’s totally a wonderful combination of youngsters and tourists
Historical architectures are not the barriers of city development
rather, they can become the stepping stones that bring brighter future to cities
It’s totally a wonderful city and stepping stone
COMBINATION
The history of Dihua Street contributed to the success of Chinese New Year Bazaar
and let the locals reach consensus among preserving the historical architectures
So
This Year，
Chinese New Year Bazaar
Celebrating
Vigintennial
When you come to Dihua Street this year
aside from buying New Year goods
don't forget to enjoy the fusion of ancient and modern times
May your New Year be a year of health and happiness, wealth and wisdom
A year of glee and glow, peace and prosperity, love and laughter