Experience of characteristic Cafe in Taipei

Drinking coffee is the way I enjoy Taipei, and it is also a part of the life of many people in Taipei. Walking on the streets of Taipei, there are everything from the cheapest 35-yuan coffee to cafes opened by world coffee competition champions, gathering places for literary and artistic youth, and small shops with imported roasted coffee beans. Each coffee shop is like a treasure pavilion. Like-minded people get together to talk about and create their own cultural atmosphere.

My favorite coffee shop is hidden in the alley behind the mansion, which is the gathering place of independent coffee shops, and there are many unremarkable alleys. This "straight walk coffee" is on the first floor of an ordinary apartment, with no conspicuous signs and no fixed boss, but is made up of members of the past wild grass mildew movement, hoping to create more space for dialogue with society. When I came here for the first time, Bali mixed me a cup of Tira Misu ice cream espresso, and his eyes brightened that it was his new invention, and I must read it. I sat on a randomly arranged chair of wood and talked to my friend about his latest book, while other people in the store swung around behind us, joining us from time to time. When talking about fun, someone suddenly rushed into the bar and played a very fast and compact rock music, and then the other two tables of the store actually sang to the rhythm, and suddenly the coffee shop became a small song and dance hall. The boss said happily that the song expressed everything for him.

It is this inexplicable humanity that fascinates me. The boss is a little capricious and overbearing, often forcing me to be a guinea pig for his new drink, and often in a mood to buy me a bunch of food for free or give me tickets to perform by an underground orchestra. They say that "dialogue" is the most important thing in the coffee shop, but it is also the most difficult to achieve, and some guests have been scared away by his active participation in the conversation.

Here is very much like a home, full of strong socialist color. I didn't listen to non-mainstream music at all, but the customers here like to share their own CD; with me. I used to only care about studying and having fun, but people here are very keen on social sports. Gradually I felt that my interaction with the coffee shop seemed a little less radical (or because we were familiar with each other), and I seemed to understand the aspirations of the so-called cynics, and we had our own little culture.

In Taipei, there are many small coffee shops like this, and the people gathered in each place are different. I feel comfortable in my familiar coffee shop, but sometimes I like to walk into a strange coffee shop and sit for an afternoon to secretly observe what the masked people are doing to see if I can understand their language. When you open the door of the cafe, you get not only a cup of mellow coffee, but also the inclusive charm experience of Taipei culture. (end)

China Coffee Trading Network: www.gafei.com