Becoming a maritime city
This dynamism related to the harbor is what caused Chiu to develop a sentimental attachment to this place. When asked why he returned to his hometown, he answers: “At first the reason was very simple—the Yancheng that I liked so much as a child was disappearing.”
In the 1990s his grandmother’s business switched over to exporting products, and the Zheng-Mei shop space was no longer used. Chiu renovated it while preserving the traces of history, and named it 3080s Apartment based on the decades in which his grandmom and he were born—the 1930s and 1980s. It has since been turned into a workshop and renamed 3080s Local Style, and it represents the passing along of the past to later generations.
After returning home, Chiu discovered that Yancheng faced serious problems. Everybody thought that new things were better than the old, and old things were continually disappearing. Moreover, with so many resources being committed to the Pier2 Art Center, the once bustling commercial areas of the past had fewer and fewer visitors.
Chiu got the idea of renovating the Yancheng First Public Retail Market to give this old space a function and significance in this new era. First, he rented a booth in the market and opened the 3080s Market Stall, where he traded in secondhand goods, thereby becoming a member of the market. He then communicated his ideas to the existing businesses there, and his team rented other booths and recruited young traders to move in. As a result, it became possible in this traditional market to have people doing creative cuisine next to a pork stand, selling fried fish-paste dishes and offering a place where customers can sit and enjoy a drink or take a bite of an exotic burrito. This kind of space where people of all ages can come together has attracted the younger generation to this traditional market.
In 2020, Chiu also found suitable space in the Takao Ginza to develop as a fusion venue called House of Takao Ginza, mainly offering accommodations, to experiment with the possibilities of old spaces. Thanks to the impact of the 3080s team, old structures in Yancheng are no longer continually being torn down, but instead people are increasingly moving into old spaces to develop creative ideas, and more and more people are willing to visit this venerable city district and get to know the combination of old and new that is Yancheng today.
Does this portrayal arouse your curiosity to visit Yancheng? Why not follow Chiu Cheng-han’s suggestion and ride the light rail to the Kaohsiung Music Center, then walk from the Pier2 Art Center into Kaohsiung’s older districts? Or take a boat cruise to enjoy the sights of the port from the water, and stroll along the harborside? You will get to better know this city that has developed around a port, and the intimate connections between the harbor and the daily life of its people.
Sanshan Guowang Temple is a center of faith for the people of Yancheng. It still preserves the tradition of venerating the Lord of the Sun, indicating the temple’s connection with the traditional solar salt industry in the area.
The Kaohsiung Museum of History, located in Yancheng, holds historical artifacts showing the city’s development. It was formerly the Kaohsiung Municipal Hall under Japanese rule and later the Kaohsiung City Hall.
Mrs. Ye’s fabric repair stall on Lainan Street is one of Yancheng’s few remaining “wall stalls.” Invented in response to the massive influx of people into the commercial district, such stalls used sidewalk overhangs and other sundry spaces to do business. You can just imagine how crowded and bustling Yancheng was back in the day.
Transforming the Yancheng First Market into a commercial space that can be enjoyed by people of all ages, Chiu Cheng-han hopes to preserve the memories and interactions associated with shopping at a market.
A diving suit and helmet, a sextant, and a marine chronometer are among the objects on display in Huang Tao-ming’s Ancient Mariner antique shop. It’s like entering a time tunnel where memories of Kaohsiung’s shipbreaking industry are preserved.