(Ecns.cn)—Located on the romantic Fujin Street in the most beautiful area of Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, Duo'er Café has spectacular cozy accents.
At first glance, it seems as if the blue entrance washes away the tension that catches almost everyone in the bustling city. In every corner of the small café is stuff for free exchange. One can easily find a love letter sent from the mainland 60 years ago, a painting scribbled by a 6-year-old, or a watch left by an ex. The free exchange attracts many who bring in one or two used things to see if they can find something they want. Facing the entrance of the café is the counter where the owner of Dou'er can be found hand making and serving self-designed deserts and coffee.
Looking tiny, even shy, Duo'er Café is not the only one-of-a-kind café on this bustling street. Along with Duo'er Café, more than 100 cafés with various unique styles crowd the same street. They have become an inseparable part of Taipei life. "They are like quiet and considerate women who offer you hugs and comfort," said a local cartoonist nicknamed 'whale in a vase' online.
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.
Home, sweet home
Backpackers are particularly fond of alleyways in the city, where cafés bearing interesting names offer them spaces for meditation and a quiet experience without worldly desires.
'Who Knows' is one such 'alleyway café' near the local Normal University. The owner of the café is one of those people who stubbornly resists technologies, including computers and the Internet, making this place a perfect shelter to get away for a while.
The café is decorated with an antique style, where furniture and squeaking cypress stair steps convey stories of those who have stopped by in the past decade. One of these past customers is a man who left Taipei nine years ago and returned after all these years with a wife and kids, just to check if the café was still there.
Regular customers of 'Who Knows' are like family to the owner. Some of them, who grew up nearby, stop by whenever they return Taipei. Some hold family parties here, while others bring new friends here to drink coffee.
Similar stories are told by the alleyway cafés that crowd Taipei. After all, none of them are solely coffee shops. To locals, cafés are shelters from the tense modern life.
Space for writing
Who says only writers head to small cafés for inspiration? In Taipei, everyone heads to cafés for inspiration.
A man who prefers to be called 'the bottle' on his blog says that he has visited more than 100 cafés in the city, mostly during coffee break amid meetings. "I enjoy sitting for hours with a cup of coffee, surfing online, sometimes working on reports, and most of the time blogging."
This is one amazing thing about cafés. Scents of coffee and fresh baked cakes flow along with elaborately chosen music.
It is such an environment that entices local Taipeiers. Ms. Wang says that as a professional writer, she sometimes feels it difficult to write pieces at home. It's better when she dashes into a café, any café in the city.
Romantic Taipei residents even manage to make Starbucks a space for reading and writing. A novel and a cup of coffee make for a perfect afternoon in the city. People rushing into the fast food-style coffee shop are trying their best to keep quiet and not disturb the reading group.
