Netherlands Office Taipei Deputy Representative Matthijs van der Hoorn and the Press and Cultural Affairs Officer Ms. Sherry Hsiao visited Xinhua Fruit & Vegetable Market in Tainan City on Oct. 14. Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che promoted this market, which is lauded as the most beautiful fruit and vegetable market in Taiwan, as a tourist destination during the Double Tenth Day (National Day) holidays. The visiting party was accompanied by Tainan Deputy Mayor Dr. Chien Tai, Bureau of Tourism Deputy Director-general Lin Guo-Hua, Agriculture Bureau Deputy Director-general Chen Zhong-Jie, and Tainan Agricultural Products Marketing Co. General Manager Li Fang-Lin.
Deputy Mayor Tai pointed out that Tainan and the Netherlands share a long history. The historical Anping Fort and Chihkan Tower as well as the Tainan Spring, the Tainan Public Library (New Main Library), and Xinhua Fruit & Vegetable Market we see today are all collaborations between Tainan and the Dutch. The city looks forward to more interactions and partnerships between Tainan and the Netherlands in areas such as architecture, culture, art, and tourism.
The Deputy Mayor also mentioned that the former fruit and vegetable market was located in the city center and had limited space and transportation options. Now the relocated market designed by the Dutch architect team has a unique wave-shaped roof, a high ceiling, and a spacious interior that provides good ventilation and lighting. The ground floor offers a pleasant and tidy trading space for vendors and customers. In the coming years, the city government plans to create a tourism corridor by linking together surrounding tourist destinations in Xinhua and the new Xinhua Fruit & Vegetable Market will also be included.
Netherlands Office Taipei Deputy Representative Matthijs van der Hoorn expressed that he is happy to be in Tainan for the first time since he took office. Tainan is a unique city with many delicacies, historical sites, and rich culture, and he is honored to be here today on behalf of the Netherlands Office Taipei to witness the completion of the Xinhua Fruit & Vegetable Market with the Deputy Mayor. Tainan and the Netherlands share a long history and the Deputy Representative looks forward to more collaborations with Tainan in the future.
The Xinhua Fruit & Vegetable Market and Tainan Spring are both designed by international partners MVRDV (NL) and Urbanists Collaborative (TW). The ground floor market area kicked off its soft opening on Sep. 16, 2022. The market is closed on the 2nd, 10th, 16th, and 25th of every lunar calendar month.