Hsinchu City Hakka Center Finally Open: Learn Hakka Culture Through Exhibitions and Culinary Classes

Fan Tso-ming, Deputy Minister of the Hakka Affairs Council (HAC), visited Hsinchu’s Guandong Market today (April 29) to participate in the opening ceremony of the Hsinchu City Hakka Center and its exhibition in the market’s fourth floor. Together with local partners, they inaugurated the upgraded facilities of this core cultural space in Hsinchu’s East District, hoping to integrate the 1F market and 3F library with the center in the future. The goal is for the venue to become a key promoter of Hakka culture and industries, as well as to expose more people to the Hakka.

Deputy Minister Fan stated that the 1F Guandong Market is perfectly positioned to promote the Hakka food industry, while the 3F library is a marvelous reading space for young people and families. In recent years, HAC has been striving to turn libraries into “cultural propellers”—bases from which to disseminate Hakka culture. Additionally, HAC advocates Hakka community making and is planning to invite local organizations to use the 4F Hakka Center in the future, so that more people “speak Hakka, see Hakka, and think Hakka” in their day to day.

Hsinchu City Mayor Kao Hung-an said that there have been 50,000 visitors since the 3F library’s opening in October last year. The Hakka Center was outsourced in May last year and it was finally completed in February this year. In the future, people can buy food in the 1F market, get recipe books from the 3F library, then view exhibitions or attend culinary events in the 4F Hakka Center, passing down Hakka culinary culture by sharing their own signature dishes.

Currently, there are two exhibitions on display: Hakka Traces in Hsinchu—Hsinchu City Hakka Culture Permanent Exhibition and Tasting Hakka—Guandong Market Delicacies Special Exhibition. The permanent exhibition explores the demographic distribution, industries, and social movements of Hakka people. The special exhibition focuses on the Guandong Market, relating its history and showcasing Hakka cuisine and culinary exchanges in the market. For more information, please visit the Hsinchu City Hakka Center Facebook fanpage (https://pse.is/5tucn2).

In 2019, Hsinchu City Government applied for a HAC grant for the Hakka-Themed Library and Center Remodelation Project. HAC and Hsinchu City Government allocated funds totaling NT$45 million to build an exhibition space and family learning venue with Hakka characteristics.