Comment by CharlieDigital

I recently had a similar episode as the author in another east Asia country: Taiwan.

Found myself in Taitung (along the much less densely populated, remote east coast) with several inches of rain forecast. Spent the day at the Taitung County Public Library [0] and it was a very pleasant public space which had more tourists than patrons!

Shots of the interior for anyone interested (surprisingly Scandinavian): https://youtu.be/gq8xlk_JEG4?t=108

[0] https://maps.app.goo.gl/tnEvHQLMNBGAnMWF9