With the Lunar New Year holidays kicking off on Monday, many in Taiwan are scrambling to get everything they will need over the nine-day-long break.
Throngs of shoppers hoping to buy Lunar New Year goods descend on Jianguo Market in Taichung.
Navigating the ebbs and flows of the crowd, shoppers are trying to get all the necessities before the New Year break. For most, it’s food that is going to be cooked and enjoyed with family over the holidays.
For vendors, on the other hand, this means non-stop work greeting customers and introducing the goods.
The vendors say there are one-and-a-half times more customers than before, but they are expecting even more over the weekend, just before the holiday break. Higher demand also means higher prices on certain products, like meat.
Customers, however, don’t seem too concerned with supply and demand dynamics, and pay asking prices to get everything they need.
The usual pre-holiday crowds were also spotted at a famous souvenir shop in Miaoli, which sells snacks and small gifts for the New Year. Some shoppers fill up a single shopping basket, others need several. One customer spent close to US$300, while another came two days in a row to get an ample supply of his favorite snacks.
The shop says that due to the COVID pandemic it has seen fewer customers so far, but the numbers are steadily increasing.
Crowds of customers might be a COVID risk, but they are also a blessing for business owners whose bottom lines were affected by the pandemic.