Taiwan Thousand-Island Lake, Pinglin Tea Museum, & Bagua Tea Garden Tour From Taipei

Overview

On this relaxing tour from Taipei, you'll take a road trip through the stunning scenery of the Shiding and Pinglin districts, which are filled with tea plantations. Marvel at the blue waters of Thousand-Island Lake, which is surrounded by rows upon rows of tea fields, including Bagua Tea Garden. Then, visit Pinglin Tea Museum to learn about Taiwanese tea culture and enhance your appreciation of Taiwanese tea.

Highlights

Key Information

Description

Develop an appreciation for Taiwanese tea and let the scenery of the Taiwanese countryside soothe you on this half-day tour that departs from central Taipei! Meet your guide and driver at Exit 2 of MRT Zhongxiao Xinsheng Station, then relax as you enjoy a scenic drive along mountain roads to Shiding, a rural district of New Taipei City. Heading south, you'll see the beautiful Thousand-Island Lake, or "Qiandao" in Chinese. It shares a name with the famous lake in mainland China's Zhejiang Province. Here in Taiwan, the basin of the Feitsui Reservoir surrounded by rolling hills creates a similar picturesque landscape. The natural terrain and climate make the surroundings ideal for tea-growing, which is why this area is home to many tea plantations. In particular, the well-known wanshan pouchong and dongfang meiren ("oriental beauty") types of oolong tea are grown here. This is also where you'll find Bagua Tea Garden, a tea plantation whose precisely arranged rows of tea fields resembles the Taoist bagua (eight trigram) symbol. From Bagua Tea Garden, continue your tour with a 15-minute drive to the Pinglin district, also an area for growing wanshan pouchong tea. There, you'll visit Pinglin Tea Museum, a Hokkien-style "siheyuan" (quadrangular courtyard house), where you can see tea harvesting tools and equipment and learn about the history and development of the Taiwanese tea industry. And since you're in a district that's famous for tea, you'll have a tea-tasting experience at a local shop. The instructor will introduce you to different types of Taiwanese tea and teach you how to properly brew each type, after which you'll get to taste everything. Finally, your tour will end with a ride back to Taipei. Choose your drop-off location: either at Xinyi shopping district (where Taipei 101 stands) or at MRT Zhongxiao Xinsheng Station.