My Glass Persimmon

On a sad day like 228, I want to write something that, while perhaps a bit maudlin, is also hopeful. 

Let me share with you my glass persimmon. 

You can buy them new - they usually come in pairs for reasons explained below - but I found this one at an antique/vintage shop for 30NT (about US$1). 

Foreign friends may not immediately 'get' that this is the sort of thing you're likely to see at your grandma's house - it's kind of an old-style thing. Literally like a kitschy figurine your elderly relative might have around.

Persimmons  are a major agricultural product in Taiwan and are one of many popular fruits for gifts. Most fruits given as gifts have an 'auspicious meaning' and persimmons are no different. They're most commonly grown in the mountainous parts of Hsinchu - they're also found in Taoyuan county around Lalashan - and often eaten dried, like a candy - dried persimmons are exceedingly sweet.

The word for persimmon (柿子, or shìzi) sounds like the "shi" in 事事如意 (shì shì rú yì, or "everything is going well"). The first character is doubled - I suppose that's why glass persimmons usually come in sets of two. 

You can buy glass fruits of all kinds, but it seems persimmons are particularly common - that's probably because of their appealing flattened circle shape. They make good paperweights and are fairly common as gifts as well. It's traditional to put a little gold leaf inside to signify wealth and prosperity (or perhaps just to look nice). I also personally think the opaque coral-orange color of red persimmons is an attractive choice and works well in glass.

In all my years in Asia, I haven't seen glass persimmons as decorative items - especially in the style of my persimmon - anywhere but Taiwan (though they might exist elsewhere; I haven't been everywhere). They have the same meaning in China, but even the first search result for glass persimmons in Chinese culture comes up with a fancy glass persimmon sold by a Taiwanese company- at a much higher price than I paid for mine! (More affordable options are available). 

I don't really mind that I don't have two. Just the one, on my coffee table, is perfect. 

So why do I like mine? 

First of all, persimmons are an early autumn fruit, in season right around my birthday, which often coincides with Mid-Autumn Festival.

Plus, over the past few years I've spent more time intentionally decorating my apartment to look modern and clean, but with comfy retro and antique twists. Think "Taiwanese auntie with good taste" or, these days, "Taiwan hipster coffee shop". 

No, really. The decor is totally Taiwan hipster cafe. 

I spent a lot of time putting together a 'vintage Taiwan' wall, and my little persimmon fits nicely in this style. The color contrasts well with all of the blue I tend to use in my decorating. That this type of knickknack is just so typically Taiwan really appeals to me, too. 

But mostly I like the way it feels in my hand. Cool, heavy, smooth, and perfectly circular. I've been dealing with a heavy workload, academic stress and general anxiety over the past year, and it's calming to pick it up and roll it around in my hands. 

(That paragraph is starting to sound like an intentional setup to a "that's what she said" crack, so I'll stop there.) 

It's like this: 2019 and 2020 have been stressful years for me academically. It feels like my dissertation is never going to get done. But my glass persimmon is a reminder that if I just keep doing the work, there is an endpoint and 事事如意 - everything will turn out well. 

And, being 228, it's a reminder that Taiwan has had a long and painful history, a history that many people want to pretend doesn't exist independently (oh, but it does). Even now, it faces general threats from China, and a particular threat to public health from COVID-19. Again and again it's had to rise to meet various challenges - including pushing a foreign dictatorship out of power. Mostly, its efforts and admirable successes have gone ignored on the world stage. 

There's no clear endpoint in sight for Taiwan, but we have to believe that 事事如何 - everything will turn out right in the end.

All Things Weird & Wonderful: Fuhe Bridge Flea Market

The best way to display watches on your arms is to do it with a seashell
up your butt.

The best post on flea markets in Taipei has already been written, so I won't make this much of an informational post. The information is already out there.

Instead, I'll post a few pictures and write up my own experience at Fuhe Bridge Flea Market, which I went to on Saturday morning with my friend June.

To get to Fuhe Market, you can take a free shuttle from MRT Dingxi, but it's super slow and doesn't come often. I'd say just take a cab to the Yonghe side of Fuhe Bridge and follow people as they walk toward the river (it's next to the riverside park).



We decided to check out Fuhe Bridge Flea Market, figuring that if we liked that one, Chongxin Flea Market could be our next stop. I wasn't looking for anything in particular, although I have my eyes out generally for a few coveted items:

1.) A real wood folding table, preferably vintage, that folds up almost completely (about 20cm is all I can spare when it's folded completely) in a medium-color wood (not too dark or blond) without too much heavy lacquer or varnish

2.) Vintage Taiwan Beer drinking glasses - the small kind you get in the 100-kuai stir fry restaurants. I have a pair of new ones, but I would love some vintage ones

3.) A bigger Yixing teapot - I have two tiny ones. I saw a lot of good contenders and may go back for one.
4.) A vintage ceramic plate bearing the stylized 壽 character (often looks like one of these)

5.) Cool beaded things of not-high value or production quality I can take apart and turn into my own jewelry items

6.) And I'm pretty much always on board with vintage scarves, jewelry and purses

Someday, someday, I might also come across the right size and weight of carved Chinese wooden door panels/screens in a style and wood I like, to have installed on either side of our Japanese tea room. Not holding my breath for those, though.



While I didn't see those specific items at Fuhe Market, we did come across a lot of cool items. Not just secondhand appliances and electronics (although there were plenty of those, including some electronics you could unironically call "vintage"), but also interesting antiques, like the kind you might find at Treasure Hunt or in the Jianguo Weekend Market.

Treasure Hunt, while fantastic and well-curated, tends to be expensive, and Jianguo Weekend Market tends to be full of fakes - if you want a vintage item to decorate your home, I'd say you're better off here. The people who shop here seem to mostly be old thrifty folks and people buying to resell. They won't be fooled by fakes. You can bargain - June says "anything over NT300 is fair game for bargaining".

I picked up one not-too-vintage Art Deco style purse (looks like something Jordan might've carried in the latest Great Gatsby film) for NT150 and didn't bother bargaining because it seemed like a great price.

And you can get your hair cut. No joke.

You can also find vintage items that are totally cool, but aren't found in antique stores. Clothing, sometimes (really inspect every item you are interested in before making an offer), old signs, old Datong fans that apparently still work, vintage and secondhand musical instruments (for the Western ones, don't look for great quality - most are student models).



Two things you can be sure of are these:

1.) If you've ever encountered a shoe thief in Taipei (one used to - and still might - target my building, which is why our shoe basket for any shoes that are actually worth anything is just inside our door, not outside of it), then your shoes probably wound up here or at the other flea market. Most - maybe not all, but most - shoes sold here are absolutely stolen. The vendors don't do the stealing, but also ask questions.

2.) If you've ever recycled any item that wasn't just an empty plastic bottle - be it an old clock, an old computer, an old chair or even an old phone - by giving it to one of the old ladies with a cart who hang out around garbage time, it almost certainly ends up here or at the other market.

Scary Discount Soldier Babies!

You can also find toys - some old, some vintage, some horrifying:

AAAAHHH!!!

I WANT THIS OLD DATONG FAN. It would totally match my guestroom and is just the right kind of vintage. I didn't feel like lugging it to my private class today, and I am definitely on a budget this month, but I saw many models of this fan at the market. If I can find one that works, I will certainly buy it, clean it up, and put it in our guest room (one wall is the same "Thai teal" color - it would look great).



I kinda like the one on the right, and I might go back for it or something like it, if I can justify buying yet another thing to hang on my wall (there's already quite a bit of wall decoration going on at our place).




...but maybe not the handcuffs.



...or the creepy forehead-eye book.



I did find cool beads, but didn't buy much as I plan to go back with a bigger spending budget soon (this month will see me paying for my Delta Module 1 and my one-on-one Chinese class). One guy sold vintage aboriginal beads that looked to mostly be the real deal.



This market is also popular with tea enthusiasts, who will come to buy good leaves, or participate in auctions for the best Yixing teapots. I don't think I will really consider myself local until I participate in one such auction and nab one such teapot. Soon, my precious. Sooooon....



You have to go early - 9am is a good time to show up - and in the summer, be ready - it's hot. Like asphalt and no shade hot. There is also a food market, and there are a few stands selling quick local meals (there's a breakfast place across the street from the walkway to the entrance, too). There are people selling cold drinks. I downed an entire iced sugarless tea in 20 minutes and was sweating so much I didn't even need to pee. And I did get a sunburn.



I also came home with some red lentils to make daal, and June bought a purse and a cute hat. We split a necklace made of beads that look like red and black dice, because we'll both use them.





So many cool plates, but no Long Life plate.

Aphrodite Europe Flea Market

Aphrodite Antiques and Europe Flea Market
Monday-Sunday 11am-9pm
#16-1-3 Section 6 Minquan East Road, Neihu Dist.
Taipei 114 Taiwan
台北市內湖區民權東路6段16－1－3號

(02)2791-5008
Directions: Take a bus heading over Minquan Bridge (民權大橋) and get off at the first stop in Neihu (the stop is called "Minquan Bridge", in Chinese "Minquan Da Qiao").  You'll see Aphrodite on the right as you come off the bridge. After alighting, walk back to the bridge entrance and Aphrodite is on the left after the store selling chi-chi glass decorations and the expensive Chinese furniture store. 

Side note, across the street from that bus stop is Miro Furniture - expensive, but great if you want good-quality wooden furniture with a sort of Indian, Middle Eastern, Silk Road flair.

I teach once a week in this part of Neihu, between Minquan Bridge and the Costco and giant RT Mart. It's fantastic, because although the area has very little - I couldn't even find a pharmacy once when I had a headache, and it was impossible to find food anywhere other than the Barista Coffee when the 7-11 was under renovation - it's perfect if I need to stop at B&Q or RT Mart after class.

That's how I found Aphrodite. I'd passed it on the bus hundreds of times, and seen the sign for the "Europe Flea Market" [sic], and the interesting, thrift-store style stuff outside. One day, looking for apartment decoration, I decided to pop in after class. I've also explored the other furniture stores in the area - there's some good stuff for those who don't mind looking for hours on end and who have budgets that can stretch beyond IKEA.

This place is a secondhand store in the truest sense of the word: only the brightly colored crystal drink and wine glasses appeared to be "new", everything else is genuinely aged or used, some of it genuine antique or vintage, some of it thrift-store-tacular. It's not as cheap as an American Goodwill, but not as expensive as the Treasure Hunt Flea Market near MRT Guting, from where we also obtained some of the items decorating our home.

The main difference is that Aphrodite really does mostly import its treasures from abroad, mostly Europe. At Treasure Hunt, you'll find old Taiwanese and Chinese antiques and vintage items, including old boxes, baskets, wood carvings, teacups, sake sets and more "Asian" stuff. At Aphrodite, you'll find European glassware (much of it the kind of thing you'd find on Great Aunt Crappadocia's credenza, which you used to think was lame but now think is totally cool and retro), espresso sets, vases, copper and brass items, plateware and other random  stuff that comes more from the West than the East. This isn't the place to go if you want to make your apartment look like the Formosa Vintage Museum Cafe (which, come on, I not-so-secretly do want to do) - it's the place to go for the kind of cool secondhand stuff you'd decorate with back home.

The part of the store near the main entrance sells mostly small items at prices under NT$1000 - this is where I picked up my blue glass vase, liqueur glasses and wooden coasters, above. The vase was NT95, the glasses NT60 each and the coasters, genuinely antique and worth "something", were NT195 each.

There are copper vases and pots that run a few thousand kuai, furniture that is really expensive, and tons of funky, retro European inexpensive ceramicware that looks like the stuff at your grandma's place, which she got from her mother who was an immigrant from Germany. There are some true finds - old copper pitchers, real crystal - and lots of cheaper, funky stuff if you just want to pick up something fun.

Prices are a bit unpredictable - a seemingly modest little copper creamer pot can be several hundred kuai, whereas those adorable liqueur glasses I scored were really dirt cheap. You just never know.

When I first popped in to Aphrodite, it was nearly empty, and again the time after that. I thought I'd found a truly undiscovered gem. The past few times I've been here, however, there have been many more people - almost all of them locals (not expats). The best stuff is selling more quickly - I'd actually wanted far more ornate wooden coasters but by the time I returned, they were gone. On the "SOLD" shelf was an impossibly beautiful copper watering pitcher with a brass lion's head and decorated with red, blue and aqua-green stones or resin dots (I couldn't tell which from a distance). I would give my left nut for that pitcher, but it's gone. I'm in love with the colorful crystal chunky French wine glasses (I would get a set in hot pink, bright tangerine and lime) but can't justify spending NT$485 each on them when I already have plenty of wine glasses.

So get yourself over there, and if you see something you like, buy, don't dally.