Taipei City Government

Compared with other markets in Taipei, Tianmu Market is wonderfully out of the ordinary. Though it only comes to life three days each week, Friday through Sunday, it has become a favorite R&R destination for Taipei shoppers in recent years, and emerging as a premium choice for travelers visiting the city since its founding. This is because here the zest for life and the creativity of the Taipei population is on full and glorious display, and because here you see the eclectic yet sophisticated melding of the cultures of the world that Tianmu has long been known for. Only in Tianmu could such an international bazaar exist.

Enthusiastic Interchange with Expatriate Residents

Tianmu has long been an enclave for foreign residents, and in more recent times many overseas Chinese have set up home here after deciding to come to Taiwan to work. Visit the area and you'll notice a distinct air of international cosmopolitanism, a veritable ferment of the best of all cultures. About four or five years ago local residents began emulating popular practice in the West, gathering up needless items that were still useful and spontaneously forming weekend flea markets so they could be reused. Over time, Tianmu Market arose and slowly took formal shape.

In the early days the market was exclusively a gathering for second-hand goods, but what was special was that though there were few old antique items and curios of value there was a wealth of quality clothing and other items from all around the globe. And in comparison to the city's other flea markets, this one sported many quite novel items from lands far away that encapsulated the unique cultural flair of different peoples. Among buyers and sellers many different languages could be heard and numerous skin colors seen, making a visit to Tianmu Market seems like visiting a foreign land. Local folks have found the ambiance exhilarating and exotic, and folks from overseas revel in the intimacy and cordiality.

More recently Tianmu Market has broken the mold once again and grown significantly in scale, bringing in young musical groups to add to the color already provided by the many regular sellers' stands and on occasion having purveyors of fresh handmade cookies, cakes, and other pastry goodies register stands. If you come on a Friday night you'll see the market takes on the look of a traditional Taiwan night-market, showing off the island's timeless cultural essence while at the same time sporting the flavors of an international cultural carnival. What you'll find here you'll not find anywhere else on the island, and this also demonstrates the city's character of being extremely eclectic to foreigners and foreign cultures.

Excavating the Newest in Taipei Originality

Tianmu Market has transformed itself from a flea market to a display showcase for creative originality, stuffed to the rafters with goods that show tremendous color, youthful vigor and spirit, and unexpected, head-wagging character and individuality. There are also many items that bring modernistic flair to what is familiar from the past, unique folk merchandise particularly pleasing to visiting foreign travelers. Many items are “mixed-blood” hybrids, fusing elements from different cultures to create something dynamically original. Many now see Tianmu Market as the most intriguing, adventurous, and bustling stage for cultural/ creative goods in the metropolis.

At “Yi Li Liang Yong” (lit.“One Piece Two Uses”), using the principle of building blocks, colored square woodblocks can be used to build up patterns or hung as decorations, as you wish. At “Hong Shuo Creativity,” the creative thought comes from Canada and the production is done in Taiwan. Lovely model items blended the ideas of scale miniatures and dollhouses so popular in the West. At “Paper Purses” the creative types bring the technique used in traditional Taiwan oil-paper umbrellas, which are both exquisitely beautiful and rainproof, to change purses, catching the eye of many browsing travelers. At “Mid-Autumn Fabric Shop” people- and environment-friendly printing ink is used to create traditional folk-style patterns printed on cotton and hemp fabrics to create attractive cloth paintings, pillowcases, hanging decorations, and other items that are simple and earthy yet compellingly unique. At “Light Travels” you'll be thrilled by the meticulously hand-painted lampshades, at “Zan Zan Zi Xi” you'll wade through waves of, yes, lovely hand-sculptured hairpins, as well as cellphone charms, metal-work decorations, fashion-design items, and very much more. The imagination flows with abandon at Tianmu Market, and you'd only feel it when you come yourself.

The market has 170 stalls in total. Fifty are given over to creative goods, and 120 occupy the flea-market space. Each week a few stalls are reserved for special theme use; they may be stocked with anime items, for example, or may be used by kids as “practice” stalls where they can interact with people. There have even been "sweetheart” stalls set up, operated by unmarried couples that have been specially invited, and other unique themes. Beyond adding even more fun to the festive atmosphere, this ensures that each time you visit you have a brand-new experience.

Bringing even that much more novelty to the goings-on is the market's “Freestyle Outdoor Stage,” at which open-air music shows are given, something you definitely don't see at other traditional-style markets. On each market day about five groups take the stage, performing rock and roll, pop, electronic, indigenous, and music done by the band itself, showing the innovation and enthusiasm of Taipei youth and giving music lovers a forum for creative exchange. Perhaps Tianmu's greatest attraction is its gift for selecting disparate elements of myriad different cultures and blending them into a harmonious whole that is completely and refreshingly new—one of the main reasons international travelers give for their attraction to this city as a whole. The Tianmu Market is, you'll see, a grand stage for this city's attraction and willingness to absorb all things new from around the globe, for the showing off of this city's rapid internationalization, and for the affection the people of this city have for the global village.