Many visitors to Taiwan believe that Taipei is a large, exciting city far removed from nature, and that to see Taiwan's wilderness they need to plan a several days' visit to the southern and central parts of the island. Taipei is large and exciting, all right, but one of the more surprising features of the city is its proximity to beautiful, mountainous countryside. To the north, south, and east, when the city ends, it ends abruptly. What lies beyond is remarkably rural.
One of the many tea houses that line the
hills of Maokung.
Perhaps the most accessible of these quieter getaways is the area southeast of Taipei, popularly known by the name of one of its constituent districts, Maokung (貓空). Near the Taipei Zoo in Mucha (木柵) and less than an hour from the center of Taipei, Maokung offers the opportunity to see tea growers at work as you walk through their farms and drink in their tea houses.
the area offers splendid views and hikes, as
well as the chance to taste Chinese tea.
Maokung's Tea Farms
Maokung has long been famous for its tea farms. In 1980, the government began promoting the district as a sight-seeing area and encouraging people to come and buy directly from the tea growers. The area became so popular that many growers found they were getting distracted from their work. A mass of tea shops and tea houses sprang up. Today, these tea houses rival the tea farms themselves as the dominant feature of the hills and valleys around Maokung.
There are several ways to see Maokung. Which you choose will depend on when you go, how much time you have, and how fit you are.
Maokung is most easily reached from Mucha. Buses 236, 237, 282, and 611 all go to National Chengchi University (國立政治大學) on Chihnan Road (指南路), which leads directly up to the tea farms. You can also take the MRT to Mucha station and then take bus 236 to the university.
Enjoy a cup of China's favorite drink.
On Chihnan Road, near the university, you will find the terminus for the "small 10" bus which offers a scenic tour of the area. The route and schedule are attached to the bus stop sign. Generally speaking, the bus leaves the university on the hour and half hour in the morning, and on the hour in the afternoon and evening.
If you have a full day and enjoy walking, Maokung is best seen on foot; if you plan to see the area on a sunny weekend when the entire valley can succumb to gridlock, it's even better to go on foot. Even if you visit on a weekday when traffic is saner, the area offers very satisfying walks. At almost all intersections, you will find a large map of the area. The map is in Chinese; but as long as you realize that downhill is almost always going to get you home, you shouldn't get lost.
Each tea house has its own style. Here
visitors can sit outside with their tea.
For somewhat more rugged walks, you'll find a network of short, steep, well-blazed paths that are guaranteed to make the tea at the top of the hill seem well deserved, and perhaps even tastier. The trails range from as short as 400 meters to over two kilometers. Maps are posted at each end of every trail showing the path (in heavy red) and its length (in meters). Many of these trails take you right through tea farms, and offer scenery that might be missed if you stick to the roads.
The Local Brew
There are many varieties of tea, and often an area is best suited to the cultivation of a specific variety. In Mucha's case, that variety is tieh-kuan-yin (鐵觀音) tea. Tieh-kuan-yin is a fairly strong brew--stronger and darker, for example, than the paochung (包種) tea for which nearby Wenshan (文山) is known.
One grower of tieh-kuan-yin is Chou Jen-chih (周仁智), who has been producing the tea for over 20 years and has run a tea house on his farm since 1988. His tea house (25 Chihnan Road, Sec. 3, Lane 38) is quiet, rustic, and even more traditional than many other shops in the area. As you walk in, in fact, you feel almost like you are entering a tea shrine. A glass case displays the different tools used for cultivating and drinking tea. Although selecting a tea and snacks in a shop with so much variety can be intimidating, Chou and his assistants, as is the case with most other shops in Maokung, are more than happy to make suggestions.
Tea making and drinking in Taiwan is a
leisurely activity.
As Chou tells it, tea farming is a tough business. Growing and preparing tea is a labor-intensive activity which takes years of experience to master. Each variety has its own particular preparation requirements. Some teas, for example, taste better if they are picked at night. After picking, the tea is dried and then placed in a spinner to aerate the leaves. The leaves are then cooked in another machine. In the case of tieh-kuan-yin, it takes from 12 to 16 hours to prepare the tea leaves to this point. Finally, the tea is preserved by being wrapped in cloth and rolled under heat.
According to Chou, however, things are changing. "Traditional tea houses like mine are becoming fewer and fewer," he says. "These days many people come up here to get away from the city. For them, the tea is incidental. These people often go to large, all-night restaurants for chicken dinners. The tea farms are just a setting for their meal."
Not all the changes have been for the worse. "Years ago," Chou continues, "most of our customers were young students. Now, we get more professionals from the city. We are also seeing a lot more family outings. It's nice to see people passing on the traditions of tea drinking to the younger generation."
One such young professional, Ethel Luo (羅玳珊), says atmosphere is what keeps people coming: "The tea is good, but it's not hard to find good tea in Taipei, too. Drinking tea in Maokung feels more authentic, more special than in the city."
A Refreshing Pot of Tea
Drinking tea here seems almost ceremonial. You will be given leaves, a small teapot, teacups, a transfer pot--used to hold brewed tea while fresh tea is brewing, and hot water with which to brew and serve the tea yourself, but most shop owners will be happy to advise you on the special tricks of the variety you are drinking.
In most cases, the teapot is filled with leaves and hot water. You should immediately rinse the teacups and transfer pot with this water; the first brew is never drunk because it is used to wash the leaves and may contain impurities. After this cleansing, the teapot is refilled with boiling water, and the tea is allowed to brew for a very short time, often as little as 10 seconds. The tea is then poured into the transfer pot, and from there into the teacups. One pot of tea leaves can be brewed five or more times, again depending on the variety of tea.
Chou also emphasizes the importance of eating the right foods with tea: "When you drink tea, it's important to eat foods that will balance the effects of the tea. We serve simple, natural food, and we try to use as little oil as possible when we cook our seeds and nuts. Dried fruit and seaweed snacks are also well suited to accompany tea."
Taiwan is covered with lush, green mountains which offer a stark contrast to urban Taipei. Even if your schedule doesn't allow time to explore the wilderness that makes up the vast majority of the island's area, a visit to Maokung can give you a small taste of why the Portuguese called the land Ihla Formosa, or 'beautiful island.'
Copyright 1995 Vision International Publishing Co.