COMPASS MAGAZINE, April 2004

HONG TAI WOOD FACTORY & ART TEAHOUSE 186, Fushing Road, section 4, 5F (Taichung Central Mall) (04) 3608-0628 Hours: 11 am-10 pm

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      Hong Tai opened its first store in Taipei 16 years ago and now comes to Taichung with its first-ever combined wooden furniture/art store and teahouse. This unique mix allows customers to savor teas while sitting at and on, and being surrounded by, fine items that they can purchase. As the owner notes, everything except the store's staff members is for sale. The 400-ping store takes up a large part of Taichung Central's fifth floor and holds over 3,000 items, made in Vietnam, the Philippines and Taiwan from all kinds of quality wood. These range from a large, intricately-carved NT$1.2 million Chinese-style screen to NT$50 shoehorns. Most furniture and decorative items, including living room sets, cabinets and shelves, come in antique Chinese styles and can be made to order. Tea drinkers, who receive a free wooden Vietnamese tea container, can choose from nine types of tea, ranging from the NT$650 Dayuling High Mountain Tea to the NT$280 Golden Mountain Tea. If they bring their own tea, there is a NT$100 surcharge plus NT$50 for hot water. There are also NT$150 cups of health tea and a long list of NT$50 Chinese tea snacks. – By Douglas Habecker, translated by Annie Liu