The Taiwanese Student Association (TASA) held its annual Night Market event from in the Biotechnology Quad last Friday night. The event was organized by a group of over 20 organizations at Tech and Emory University to create an atmosphere consisting of fast paced music, lights, games and a number of different stalls offering Taiwanese snacks.
“The Night Market tries to simulate a very unique atmosphere that we find in Taiwan,” said Charles Kuo, TASA President and fourth-year CHBE major.
The TASA Night Market event is modeled after night markets in Taiwan and South East Asia. These markets operate night and constitute a mixture of individual stalls that sell fast food, drinks, consumer goods and other items.
“Here, since we don’t have that many Taiwanese students, we involve some other Asian organizations,” Kuo said. “There are seven Emory organizations, and the rest are from Georgia Tech.”
Several Tech and even Emory students attended the TASA Night Market.
“I love how the Night Market is able to show a side of East Asian culture that most people would not be able to experience without actually traveling there,” said Tianlin Linda Chang, third- year CEE major.
There were various traditional, local Taiwanese delicacies available at the Night Market event. Niu Rou Mian, a Taiwanese beef noodle soup, minced pork with rice and Strawberry Mochi-a dessert influenced by Taiwan’s Japanese roots were some of the dishes offered at various stalls.
“In Taiwan, there are hundreds of stores serving small snacks,” Kuo said. “There, you have a lot more Taiwanese [food] selection. Here we only provide five different selections.”
According to Kuo, in Taiwanese night markets, people participate in dart games and games involving scooping goldfish from tanks. The objective of TASA was to recreate similar simple games for the benefit of the student community. The organizations that signed up for the event were required to specify the number of tables that they needed and type of food they would be bringing to the event. The event planning started in February, when TASA decided to select the event venue. There was no entry fee, but attendees were required to purchase tickets for food, games and other highlights.