The Hakka Affairs Council yesterday said that it is bringing Hakka products to Taipei’s Dihua Street (迪化) market and other locations ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday.
Taipei’s Dihua Street market “is the most important place for nianhuo [年貨, New Year’s goods] in Taiwan,” Hakka Affairs Council Minister Lee Yung-de (李永得) told a news conference in Taipei.
However, Hakka culture has been “absent” from the nianhuo shopping scene at the market, he said.
Photo: CNA
By introducing Hakka products to the Dihua Street market, the council hopes that the city residents’ higher spending power would drive the development of products from remote Hakka communities, he said.
The council aims to show people that Hakka industries include more than the caibao (菜包, vegetable buns) and huabu (花布, floral cloth) they are familiar with, he said.
As part of the initiative, starting Thursday, Hakka products, including food and other items, are to be sold at locations in Taipei and New Taipei City, the council said.
They include the Dihua Street market in Taipei’s Dadaocheng (大稻埕) area, the Taipei Bus Station and the social housing complex in the Fujhou (浮洲) area of New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋), it said, adding that the products would also be available online.
The first day of the Lunar New Year — the Year of the Rat — falls on Jan. 25 this year.
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