The coffee shop and thousands of pages of books

In the midst of the bustling city, in Yen Bai ward, Lao Cai province, lies a small café called "Oil Lamp Café." Stepping through its simple wooden door, one feels detached from the noisy traffic, enjoying a space bathed in warm yellow light and soft music. The aroma of roasted coffee blends with the scent of old paper. This place is special because it houses thousands of old books, still retaining their value over time.

Stepping through a room filled with nostalgic objects like sewing machines, oil lamps, and old furniture, you enter a space where thousands of books are neatly arranged. On tall wooden shelves reaching the ceiling, thousands of books, most with torn covers and worn spines, their pages yellowed with age, yet each one holds the story of an entire era.

Mr. Dam Huu Huy, owner of the Oil Lamp Cafe, shared:

“These more than one ton of books originally belonged to a collector. When his family moved to Saigon, they sent them to me. Some of them were published between 1960, 1962, and 1970. They are extremely valuable because books published before 1975 are incredibly rare; sometimes you can't buy them even with money.”

Even more remarkably, all the books bear the collector's signature and an epigraph, along with the time and place where the author collected them. Many worn and torn books have been carefully sewn or taped back together by the collector. Huy further shared: "Keeping books isn't difficult; you just need a dry, non-humid space to protect them from termites. And most importantly, you have to keep them with love. Because for me, collecting isn't about business, but about preserving a part of life's memories."

Sitting in a corner of the cafe, Mr. Tran Quang Huy, a regular customer, flipped through the pages of an old book and said slowly, "This feeling is hard to describe. Drinking coffee while reading precious books that are decades old makes me feel like time slows down. The pressures and hustle of life seem to disappear."

"Precious things need to be cherished, so I don't promote or introduce this corner of the cafe much. Because I don't want noise to disrupt the space. The cafe isn't too crowded; it's almost a niche group of customers, and everyone respects the tranquility and style of the cafe," added Mr. Huu Huy.

The Oil Lamp Cafe isn't as noisy as other entertainment venues, nor does it rush to follow trends. Here, there's only coffee, people who appreciate tranquility and nostalgia, and pages of books steeped in history. A place where people can find peace, where memories are awakened by the aroma of coffee and thousands of pages of books.

Source: https://baolaocai.vn/quan-ca-phe-va-hang-ngan-trang-sach-post879236.html