Douliu Candidate Aims to Make Historic Market 'Most Stylish Old-Fashioned Flavor'

Douliu City mayoral candidate Yin Ling-ying has unveiled a plan to revitalize the West Market, a historic structure dating back to 1938. The market, which retains its Japanese colonial-era wooden architectural style, has fallen into disuse in recent years.

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History should not be a stumbling block to development, but the best beautician for a city.

Yin, a candidate from the Democratic Progressive Party, envisions transforming the market into "the most stylish old-fashioned flavor in all of Yunlin." Her proposal includes introducing light dining options and distinctive specialty shops. She believes that preserving and restoring the market's original appearance will highlight the elegance of its wooden construction.

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If we can introduce the best light dining and specialty shops, we hope it can become the 'most stylish old-fashioned flavor' in all of Yunlin.

To achieve this, Yin has enlisted Liu Chuan-chih, an expert in spatial planning and old building regeneration, to help create a revitalization blueprint that blends local sentiment with trendy cultural and creative elements. Yin emphasized that change in Douliu should begin with its most familiar spaces, like the wet market.

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Douliu needs to change, and it must start with the market that is closest to everyone's lives.

Beyond the West Market, Yin also presented plans for other old markets in Douliu. The former East Market, which has been demolished, could be rebuilt as a mixed-use commercial building with a modern market and parking. The Central Market on Taiping Old Street could become a hub for cultural and creative shops and youth workshops. Yin pledged to work with cultural and historical experts and revitalization professionals to transform these traditional markets, aiming for a "101% super-standard" overhaul to create a new impression of Douliu.

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We will work with many cultural and historical experts and professional forces in spatial revitalization to flip traditional markets with a super-standard of '101 points' to give everyone a new impression of Douliu.