As the Lunar Year of the Snake approaches, a pet store in Taipei is offering adventurous customers an opportunity to enjoy the company of snakes while sipping coffee, hoping to break down some of the prejudice against the animal. The reptile has a mixed reputation in traditional Taiwanese and Chinese culture as a symbol of either good or bad. Some of Taiwan's indigenous peoples venerate snakes as guardian spirits. Taiwan has been plastered with images of snakes ahead of the start of the Lunar New Year, which starts on Jan. 29 and whose zodiac animal this year is the snake.
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