HCM City (VNS/VNA) - A coffee shop in Ho Chi Minh City’s Tao Dan Park hasbecome a popular place for people who like to listen to and admire beautifulsongbirds.

The small coffee shop, which is informally knownas the Bird Café, is located on Cach Mang Thang Tam street in District 1.

From 6am-8-9am, the café is a meeting place forpeople to bring their beloved birds.

The activity has been popular since 1954, accordingto many old bird lovers in the city.

On the weekend, visitors can see the outdoor cafécrowded with many motorbikes and birdcages perched on their backs, with thechirping of birds drowning out the sounds of traffic.

The bird lovers show off their pet birds, sharetheir knowledge about breeding birds, and enjoy the morning with a cup ofVietnamese tea or coffee.

The birdcages hang on hooks from the trees,looking like branches made of metal cages.

Visitors often sit around for a few hours enjoyinga cup of coffee or tea.

Nguyen Thi Luong from District 5 visits the parkin the early morning to rest, have a drink, and chat with friends, whilelistening to the birds singing under the morning sunshine.

“The singing of the birds makes me feel reallyrelaxed and comfortable,” she says.

Keeping pet birds is a popular hobby in the city,but it is a time-consuming one as the owners must feed and train the birds.

Most of the visitors are middle-aged men, butstudents, woman and foreigners also come to the park.

Pham Huu Luan, a bird lover from District 3, hasbeen going to the park for 20 years. He says there are at least 30 bird loverswho come each day, and in recent years, nearly 100 people have been visiting,especially on Saturday and Sunday mornings.

”It’s good for the birds’ health if they stay outunder the sunshine in the morning hours,” he says

Some of the birds at the park are canaries,nightingales and tailorbirds.

The park, with its peaceful atmosphere from thesongs of birds, provides a welcome respite for people to begin a new day orrelax at the weekend.-VNA