Motionless Woman In The Market

Taipei has markets for locals in the center of the city. A day ago I visited the bravely named Chenggong Market, which sits on the side of an apartment block. Whenever I go on a trip, I tend to go to the local market. Even though they don't sell any souvenirs, I enjoy going to local markets because I feel that I can catch a glimpse of local people's daily lives. And unlike tourist markets, neither the shoppers nor the people doing business there are wearing tourist masks. In other words, everyone walks around without any masks, so to speak. Some of the neighbors walked around without any masks, and it was fun to just wander around.

So on this day, I came to a market called Bailan in Taipei's Daan District. If you enter from the main street, the market is lined with shops on both sides of the road. The market was not so crowded. Shoppers are lounging on the street looking at what is being sold.

As I walked along with the locals, I noticed a woman sitting in front of a shop, motionless, as if time had stopped just around her. She has a limp look on her face. It was as if she was exhausted, even though it was only the morning.