Text: | Print | Share

Cafés offer a glimpse of Taipei(2)

2011-09-05 13:18    Ecns.cn     Web Editor: Xu Aqing
Providing a sweet local view, cafés in Taipei carry an exotic Eastern feeling, making them a place to go when traveling in Taiwan to have a peek at local life.

Providing a sweet local view, cafés in Taipei carry an exotic Eastern feeling, making them a place to go when traveling in Taiwan to have a peek at local life.

Themed cafés

Not all cafés in Taipei have cozy and homey styles. Some of them are themed cafés open for special groups.

'Ecologic Green' located in a neighborhood unit is one of these themed cafés. Fans of the café regularly gather to discuss promotions for fair trade, and sometimes about new books in the area. 'Vacation flogs' on the other hand is devoted to photography. Sharing the same hobbies, people can easily make friends over a cup of coffee.

Tiapei 'in' cafés

At first glance, Taipei carries the style of Tokyo, where Hello Kitties have overtaken almost every corner of the city. Once in a while, tourists bump into locals who speak Japanese and greet them with the language.

At closer look, though, it's more like New York, especially when the whole city is enveloped in coffee scents and English pop songs. Most youngsters, including café owners, can speak fluent English and know about America from A to Z.

However, after a while of living with locals, the place appears to foreigners more like Xiamen, the capital of East China's Fujian Province. With the same cultural roots, same rituals, and same dialect linking the two cities, the two cities are more like a shadow of one another.

Nevertheless, it's Taipei and Taipei only, a city that embraces café culture and thus becomes a melting pot.