Help sell unsold items — Hualien’s “A Little Bit General Store” and its commitment to the land

Photos and text / Excerpted from "Moving to Hualien: Practicing an Ideal Life with 30 New Hualien Residents",Published by Macs Publishing

A Little Bit General Store, a neighborhood mom-and-pop shop located near the Pacific Ocean, is run by its female owner, Wang Yuping. Having followed her husband to Hualien, she recalls those past decisions and admits she didn’t think too much about it at the time. Before getting married, she still kept her job in Taipei, accustomed to that fast-paced lifestyle, and would regularly travel back and forth to Hualien during holidays, finding a balance that suited her between the two places.

Unearthing Hualien’s simple beauty with pen and ink
The real trigger for Wang Yuping’s decision to leave the north came from an inconspicuous daily incident. When lunch break arrived and she saw her colleagues routinely exchanging the negative emotions built up throughout the day, she suddenly realized, “What am I even doing?” She felt that such mutual complaining about work only stripped away the purest essence of human interaction and dulled one’s passion for life. It was this thought that ultimately led her to follow her husband back to their simple hometown, content to put down roots here.

In the first few years after moving from Taipei to Hualien, leveraging the interviewing expertise she had accumulated over the years, Wang Yuping keenly noticed the many unexplored simple beauties of Hualien. As a result, she launched the magazine 《O’rip》, compiling a local cultural publication through actual interviews. Many travelers who came from afar, through the special features introduced in this magazine, saw a different side of Hualien, while also helping the residents living on this land gain a better understanding of the many stories taking place here. In addition to running the local publication, her husband’s “Puzhi Coffee Shop” provided a suitable venue for Wang Yuping to bring a series of art and cultural lectures into the store, thus enlivening cultural exchanges.

Unsold items? I’ll help you sell them.
And it seemed Hualien wasn’t content to let her talents shine in just these ways. When Wang Yuping found out she was pregnant with her second child, the joy that followed softened her heart even more, leading her to decide to make use of the space inherited from her mother-in-law to open a unique little shop, attempting to inspire even more distinctive business possibilities. Thus, “A Little Bit General Store” was born.

Always holding onto the original intention of sharing good things with more people, seventy percent of the products in A Little Bit General Store come from locally sourced organic farmers and handmade goods by local brands, while the other thirty percent are fair trade products from around the world. “I always tell my farmer friends, don’t worry if you can’t sell all your produce. If there’s anything left, bring it to the store, and I’ll keep selling it for you!” With this considerate attitude toward farmers, A Little Bit General Store offers a unique product not found in other shops — organic leftover vegetables. Hearing Wang Yuping’s commitment, many customers are also happy to pay for these unassuming leftovers. Here, every product holds a story waiting to be heard.

Vegetables with the taste of the land, hoping for the continuous passing of happiness
Speaking of local organic farmers, Wang Yuping recalled a heartwarming story. A Hong Kong friend of hers came to Taiwan and, without any guided tours, regularly bought vegetables from an inconspicuous stall at the market. Wang Yuping curiously asked, “How do you know these vegetables are good?” The Hong Kong friend replied, “Because their vegetables have the taste of the land!” Wang Yuping happily relayed her friend’s witty response, “See? Isn’t that the most natural recommendation?” For Wang Yuping, that earthy fragrance is the most powerful endorsement and the greatest motivation supporting her advocacy for organic produce.

From launching a magazine, experiencing the sincere interactions between people during interviews, to bringing residents closer through art and culture lectures at Puzhi Coffee Shop, and then opening A Little Bit General Store to promote fair trade. As someone who loves sharing with friends, where does Wang Yuping want to take everyone next? Wang Yuping blinked playfully, “Unlike before, I’m now thinking about how to share my philosophy of life with more friends!” In the future, she will continue to convey her philosophy of life in her usual gentle yet determined way, allowing this small community shop near the Pacific Ocean to deliver a continuous movement of hopeful, happy living.