100-year-old cattle market moves location -Is it still the same?

Beigang Cattle Market has been held beneath Beigang Bridge from as far back as the Japanese occupation of Taiwan. With over 100 years of history, it is the largest of its kind in Taiwan. However, to accommodate the Water Resources Agency’s “Beigang Charming River Project,” the market agreed to temporarily relocate across from Beigang’s Ban Yu paper mill. Through the years, machines have gradually replaced cattle, so they are no longer seen at the market. Despite this, today, steeped in culture and history, Beigang Cattle Market has become a unique market for ordinary people selling just about everything, including farm tools, clothes, daily necessities, agricultural products, electronic goods, antiques, and second-hand goods, not to mention chickens and ducklings. 

Even though Beigang Cattle Market has changed along with the environment, it still retains a very local and traditional atmosphere just like days gone by when Taiwan was still primarily an agrarian society. Will Baigang Cattle Market be still as lively in a year’s time? We’ll have to wait and see!   

 以下為中文對照

北港牛墟位在北港大橋下，日治時期至今，歷史超過百年，是台灣規模最大的牛市集。但「北港牛墟」配合水利署「北港溪魅力河川」工程施工，暫時搬遷到北港萬有紙廠對面。隨著牛被機械取代，牛墟沒有牛了，但卻發展出獨特的常民文化市集，裡面販售的東西無奇不有，農具、衣服、日常用品、各種農產品、3C產品、古藝文物、二手物品、小雞小鴨等等應有盡有。

現在的牛墟雖然隨著環境改變，但這個最鄉土、最傳統的市集，彷彿是留在那以農業為主的樸實年代。一年後的北港牛墟，是不是一樣熱鬧 ?

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