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I want to check out the alternative scene in Taipei, I would appreciate some advice on where to find:

1) Any boho type cafes or music venues in Taipei for a good quiet stroll or sample Taiwanese tea
2) Where is a good area to buy music - can you recommend any indy Taiwanese bands (perhaps similar to Wilco, Fleet Foxes, Jens Lekmen, Florence & The Machine, Bic Runga) to check out
3) Independent fashion labels or designers
4) Small art galleries (pref Taiwanese artists) and antiques, street art.

Thanks

P

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1

For music check out the Gig Guide website which has good listings of live original music. I recommend The Wall and Underworld as venues to check out. There are a few others too. For buying music go to White Wabbit Records. They have two stores, one in The Wall and the other in the Shi-Da area. The latter is a little difficult to find. The Shi-Da area is also a good one to seek out "boho type cafes".

For independent fashion labels and designers I suggest you check out the Red Theatre in Ximending. There are shops inside and a market outside on weekends. The area around Zhongshan MRT Station has also developed a lot recently, although it is probably a bit more upmarket.

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wix is right on the money - the Shida Road lanes around the night market are packed with "boho type cafes" as is Wenzhou St. near Gongguan (I am particularly a fan of Shake House, across the street from the snooty Bastille, catty-corner to the Lutheran church. Funky music, Belgian beer, pretty good coffee, old chairs, terracotta plant pots for lamps, sometimes they play vinyl...sandwiches and popcorn as well as fries are good but the rest of the food is crap). In Shida I like Red House - it's on Shida Road a bit north of Jr. Cafe (which is not boho at all). It's tiny and only seats maybe 20 people, but you can usually get a seat. Awesome ambiance if you get a balcony seat. Shida night market isn't that great for food but the vendors there tend to be more bohemian student indie types.

For tea, if you don't go up to Maokong, then 玥 (pr "yue") on Wenzhou St. has a cool ambiance (not so boho but definitely hippie meets ancient China meets horrible mist-making fountain) and good tea and snacks. There's an old Shanghai style decorated teahouse near Technology Bldg MRT but it's in the lanes and I can't remember exactly how to find it. And of couse for real history Wistaria House is a favorite. I also like the teahouse on the bluff overlooking Xindian (MRT XIndian, walk through the market, cross the suspension bridge over the river, teahouse on the left on the cliff, opens at 1pm, tea NT $400). Not "boho" but very cool and local.

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