Our time in Taiwan was nearing an end. We had one last day before leaving. The Missus had become a fan of tea over the last decade, so I decided to book a small group Tea of Taipei tour for us. It turned out that no one else had booked the tour for that day, so we had our guide/driver David to ourselves. It was a fun day, I'm going to mostly post just photos, otherwise this would be a super long post.
We got picked up at our hotel and immediately headed on out. David was amazing, had so much info for us. We were provided tickets for the Maokong Gondola at the Taipei Zoo and were told we'd be met at the top.
It was a fairly clear day, so the views were wonderful.
At the top we were met and taken for a nice stroll….
There are quite a few trails in the area and we were taken to a few of them.
All were easy to traverse.
After which we were taken to the Taipei Tea Promotion Center.
Which went over how tea is produced, the differences, and how to taste and approach tea.
The Missus really enjoyed this.
Taipei Tea Promotion Center
No. 8之2號, Lane 40, Section 3, Zhinan Rd.
Wenshan District, Taipei City, Taiwan
Seeing that the Missus was so interested in tea, David made a couple of stops so we could walk and admire the fields of tea.
It's quite beautiful!
We then headed to Bitan and walked along the river and on the famous suspension bridge.
There seemed to be a number of hiking trails and walks in the area. I'm sure the Missus wants to return and go hiking here.
It was time for lunch and David asked us if we wanted to eat along the river…….which seemed a bit touristy. The Missus explained that we enjoyed typical, simple Taiwanese food and mentioned Lu Rou Fan. We walked over to nearby Xindian Road to this stand.
Which was ok, not as memorable as Jin Feng.
And then headed of to the picturesque Shiding District.
Making several stops along the beautiful Shihding Ciandao Lake (aka Thousand-Island Lake 千島湖) which is not a lake nor does it have a thousand islands, but is quite lovely nonetheless.
We visited a temple.
When I noticed some abandoned buildings along the shoreline, I was told about the creation of Feicui Dam which created this "lake" and also submerged part if Bishan Village, which was eventually abandoned.
The last stop for the day was the town of Shiding and Shiding "Old Street" which I was told dates back to the Qing Dynasty.
It was quite an interesting rustic town. Our destination was this tea shop.
Where the Missus got schooled in the traditional tea ceremony and tasting by a certified Tea Master.
The Missus really enjoyed this and of course we ended up buying some really great tea as well.
Fongchun (逢春茶莊)
No. 28號, Shiding E St.
Shiding District, New Taipei City, Taiwan
This was a fun day and as we were driven back we had a nice chat with David and he told us an interesting XLB tale and made a recommendation for dinner…..
Stay Tuned!