The honest voice of the tea community is back! Today, let’s talk about Taiwan’s tea region altitudes. Where is the highest tea region in Taiwan, really?
Since 2015, the highest altitude tea region in Taiwan has been the HuaGung tea region.
Before 2015, the highest altitude tea garden in Taiwan was without a doubt the “104k Tea Garden” in the Dayuling tea region, reaching over 2,600 meters at its highest point. It was cleared out after 2015, and currently, any Dayuling tea garden in production sits below 2,400 meters, meaning it is no longer the highest tea region.
Since 2015, the highest tea garden in Taiwan has been the “HuaGung Water Source,” with its peak at around 2,520 meters. The second highest is Fushoushan Farm’s “Tianchi Tea Garden (located in Nantou),” peaking at 2,490 meters. In third place is the tea garden just above Fushoushan Farm’s tea factory (located in Taichung) at 2,485 meters, followed by the HuaGung Ridge Tea Garden at 2,450 meters, and Dayuling at around 2,400 meters. Aside from these, Taiwan has no tea gardens situated above 2,400 meters. Here are photos of the HuaGung Water Source:
If we count “semi-abandoned” tea gardens, the highest would be Dayuling 105k, which reaches over 2,560 meters at its peak. Since the tea plants are still alive and people are still harvesting from them, HuaGung still has to wait a bit to officially claim the absolute crown for the highest altitude tea region in Taiwan. (Note: The 105k tea plants were still alive in 2024.)
A tea friend happened to be asking about this, so I figured I’d write a post. Many in the industry claim their tea comes from extreme altitudes, but the truth is that tea gardens in Taiwan above 2,200 meters are extremely rare—and once you exclude Fushoushan Farm and HuaGung Ridge, they’re practically non-existent. When sellers casually claim their tea is from 2,300 or 2,400 meters, it’s pretty absurd. Take those claims with a huge grain of salt!
The highest altitude tea garden in Taiwan is at the HuaGung Water Source. If you’d like to taste tea from the HuaGung Water Source, feel free to visit the HuaGung Water Source website.