Legendary Taipei restaurant, known as gathering place for post-martial law era activists, says goodbye.
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00:00Opening the doors one last time, owner Yang Xiaoxia is preparing to clear everything out
00:08of A Cai's restaurant, once a legendary stir-fry joint in Taipei.
00:14After 33 years, it's had its last day of service.
00:18A Cai was a local favorite through the 1990s, a time of transition for Taiwan from brutal
00:24martial law to democracy.
00:27The place was founded by video journalist Yu Yueshu, who wanted a drinking spot for
00:32his friends.
00:33Later selling it to Yang's husband Liu Jianhua or Ah Hua, the restaurant's cook turned second
00:39owner.
00:40Yang, who goes by Hua Shao, says it was her husband who gave the place its glory.
00:58That freedom helps the joint become the gathering spot for pro-democracy activists, pulling
01:03in patrons like Chen Shui-bian, Taiwan's first president from the Democratic Progressive
01:08Party, or DPP, that ended the Kuomintang's over five-decade rule.
01:14Other figures known to have dined at the spot include Shi Mingde, the late democracy activist
01:19known as Taiwan's Mandela, and more recently, DPP figures Enoch Wu and Freddie Lim.
01:26After Ah Hua died from cancer in 2020, Hua Shao says it's been tough, and so she's decided
01:32to close for good.
01:51Hua Shao's grateful that up until the last service, customers enjoyed the Taiwanese
01:56home cooking and even played traditional games.
02:01For its final days, Hua Shao has turned the space into a photo exhibit for patrons to
02:06enjoy the atmosphere one last time.
02:10For the past three decades, this restaurant has also been home to many relics that are
02:14quintessentially Taiwanese, like these hand-painted movie posters and also this vintage bottle
02:21cap sign for Hei Song Root Beer that the owner is actually putting up for auction starting
02:27at almost US$2,000.
02:30And that's not all.
02:32Everything here is up for sale, a final draw for the restaurant's long-time customers and
02:36fans, some even discovering treasures with a personal connection.
02:52Hua Shao says it was a group of long-time customers who proposed and organized the auction.
03:11It's kind of, we are preserved everything and want to pass on the memories.
03:17For Hua Shao, letting go of the restaurant means allowing it to reunite with her husband,
03:23the soul of a place that brought people together during some of Taiwan's darkest times.
03:29Chris Ma and Joyce Sen for Taiwan Plus.