A Tainan girl worked her way up from employee to owner—don’t miss the “Red-Braised Pork Knuckle” at Qingdao Bee Café

Text and photos / Mirror Weekly

Tsai Tsui-ying, the owner of Qingdao Bee Coffee Specialty Shop, started working here when she was 19. Later, she took over the café and also got married and had children here. The café began serving meals in 1995, with Tsai creating the menu and refining the flavors. Even as the years passed, one thing remained unchanged: the “Red-Braised Pork Knuckle,” which is slow-cooked with great care and colored without adding a single drop of water, remains the shop’s flagship dish.

A Tainan girl who had just graduated from vocational high school headed north to work at a café. She started as a waitress and eventually became the owner. Years later, she even found her husband here, had children, and spent her youth in the café. She is Tsai Tsui-ying, the owner of Qingdao Bee Coffee Specialty Shop.

When Qingdao Bee Coffee Specialty Shop opened in 1978, Tsai Tsui-ying was already working here. “Back then, the economy was taking off, and business was booming—nothing like it is now. Right after the stock market closed at 1 p.m., the place would be packed. Customers who finished trading would come here to play chess or chat. Smoking was allowed indoors back then, so the place was often filled with smoke. Even veteran legislators used to come for coffee. At that time, we didn’t serve food yet—apart from the smell of cigarettes, all you could smell was the aroma of coffee,” she recalled while flipping through an old photo album, reminiscing about the golden years she spent with the café.

▲ In the old photo, Tsai Tsui-ying is dressed fashionably, her face beaming with joy.

▲ Tsai Tsui-ying flips through the old photo album, her thoughts drifting back to the past. For a while, she simply sits there quietly, saying nothing.

I see Tsai Tsui-ying in the old photos, sitting in the café, her face full of smiles, one side of her hair tucked behind her ear, revealing shiny long earrings—she looked incredibly stylish. She said, “Back then, before I met my husband, the shop closed at 5:30 p.m. We’d help each other put on makeup, and then we’d head to underground dance halls or nightclubs to dance, eat, drink, and have fun—it was so much fun!” A few girls would change outfits in the shop, help each other put on accessories, and then sway to the music in their heels at the dance hall... The vivid scenes seem to come alive right before your eyes—that was Tsai Tsui-ying’s youth.

▲ Even though time has changed, the counter looks different too, but the owner Tsai Tsui-ying still stands guard here.

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