Typhoon Hinnamnor was originally headed straight for Taiwan, but made a turn right at our doorstep. Not only did it spare Taiwan from major disasters, but it also helped resolve our drought crisis—truly a model student among typhoons hitting Taiwan. Taiwan saw very little rainfall in July and August, until a round of rain arrived
Frequent earthquakes have hit Taitung and Hualien over the past couple of days, forcing us to postpone our scheduled trip to Lishan. We really hope things settle down soon so it won’t impact the high-mountain winter tea harvest coming up in two weeks. /*! elementor – v3.7.8 – 02-10-2022 */ .elementor-widget-image{text-align:center}.elementor-widget-image a{display:inline-block}.elementor-widget-image a img[src$=”.svg”]{width:48px}.elementor-widget-image img{vertical-align:middle;display:inline-block}
When people mention “Taiwan-style Oolong tea,” most think of tea from Vietnam or Indonesia. In reality, many Taiwanese tea farmers have also gone to mainland China, bringing tea saplings and techniques to Fujian and Sichuan. The tea they produce is also Taiwan-style Oolong. Because regulations don’t allow these to be imported back into Taiwan, “Chinese
Remember when the store manager mentioned trying “Taiwan-style oolong tea” from mainland China a few days ago? Tea lovers frequently ask if we sell mainland Chinese green or oolong teas. To answer your questions, by law, mainland Chinese tea cannot be imported into Taiwan, with the exception of Pu-erh tea. The store manager tried that
Being a tea merchant comes with quite a few perks. Aside from being able to drink premium tea like it’s water, we occasionally receive little gifts from our tea farmers. Just the other day, the shop manager received an amazing treat that very few people have ever tried: Lishan kiwifruit! /*! elementor – v3.7.8 –
A few days ago, the store manager mentioned that “Lishan Sinjiayang winter tea is in trouble.” We initially thought the Lingfu Bridge would be repaired in time, but rocks have been falling continuously over the past couple of days. The public works office ultimately decided to close the road for two weeks for slope stabilization
Affected by Typhoon Nesat, all tea growing regions in central Taiwan experienced rain on October 16. The northern areas—Lishan, Xijiayang, and Cuiluan—saw rain throughout the entire day. Further south, Cuifeng, Cingjing Meifeng, Songgang, DongYanShan, and Qilai Mountain experienced lighter rain, which stopped by late afternoon. The weather forecast indicates that it will turn sunny starting
These yellow boxes are shipments bound for China. Customs over there have been “fairly normal” lately. Unlike back in April and May when packages took two months to arrive, they’re now delivering in just 7 days. If you’re looking to send shipments to China, now is the time. Our shipment volume has doubled over the
Hey tea lovers, the 2022 high mountain winter teas are now fully online. Today, the store manager checked the Ruifeng, Taihe, and Zhangshuhu tea regions and couldn’t find anything good, so those items are officially “absent” this season. If you’re looking to stock up all at once, you can place your order now. Thoughts on
Fertilizer prices have skyrocketed over the past two years. Common 20kg soybean meal fertilizer has jumped from NT$500-something to nearly NT$700—an increase of about NT$150. Assuming 200 bags of fertilizer are applied per chia (approx. 0.97 hectares), that’s an extra NT$60,000 a year just on fertilizer, leaving many tea farmers feeling the pinch. High-mountain tea
Proper tea garden management is truly critical. Good management not only boosts yield, but also improves quality year after year. When managed poorly, a sudden decline in a tea garden is far from rare. Over the past few years, the store manager has witnessed cases of failed tea garden management in Lishan, Alishan, Cingjing, and
Reporting to all tea lovers: from mid-November to early December, the store manager tasted nearly 20 batches of High Mountain Winter Sprout Oolong and “didn’t find a single good one.” Therefore, the 2022 High Mountain Winter Sprout Oolong is definitely off the table. That’s two years in a row without selling High Mountain Winter Sprout
A cold wave has hit over the past couple of days, and frost has started forming in the high mountain tea regions. While frost isn’t anything out of the ordinary up in the mountains, tea farmers still can’t let their guard down when a cold snap arrives. The tea plants inevitably suffer some frost damage,
Last year, while chatting with a Lishan tea farmer, I learned that his 0.6-hectare farmland cost NT$450,000 a year to rent. I was shocked by the rent back then, and this year I got shocked all over again—this time, a 1-hectare vegetable plot costs a whopping NT$1.3 million to rent. Last year’s tea plantation was
We were talking about Lishan farmland the other day. Currently, there are two types of farmland in Lishan: first, indigenous reserved lands, and second, lands granted to retired servicemen (veterans). A lot of farmland near Fushoushan Farm and along the Central Cross-Island Highway belongs to this second category. Years ago, the Taiwan government brought veterans
