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Autumn Book House is a bookstore created with no commercial motive whatsoever. It came into being purely by chance, founded by Qiu Siji, the owner of Gallery 107 in Taichung, as a gift to the young people of Chiayi: a place for exchange, a literary salon. Inside, coffee, music, and books converge. Transformed by the artist—who calls the result “impractical”—this sharp-angled, triangle-shaped old house stands on Linye West Road amid the traffic, its volume like a vessel that sets sail at sunset, when the evening lights come on, so we can stay awake and dream together. Whether you’re lost in a book, sunk in silent thought, or parked at the bar demanding caffeine or a jolt of contemporary ideas, Autumn Book House has no fixed menu; once you board you’re free to improvise. The real treasure is the atypical bookstore space designed by Xiao Yu (Tsai Chih-hsien): dialogues between old and new materials, the mix of rigid lines and soft curves, the tilt of the staircase, the light and shadow falling through the windows, the casually displayed books, and—culminating on the top floor—the suspended ship’s engine at the apex of the triangle. At dusk, stand at the bow and watch the sun set; the view is magnificent. Book lovers should hunt carefully: every volume comes from founder Qiu Siji’s private library, offered freely to be read. If you meet him in Autumn Book House, sit down and talk—that is how you open the doors of the literary salon. No. 494, Minquan Rd., West Dist., Chiayi City 0937 669 222 20:00 – 03:00 https://www.facebook.com/d.chunqiu494