Recently, water supplies in southern Taiwan have been critically low, and central Taiwan’s tea-growing regions aren’t doing much better. Heping District, Ren’ai Township, Zhushan Town, Meishan Township, and Zhuchi Township have all been seeing well below-average rainfall. March is the sprouting season for high mountain teas, and if it doesn’t rain soon, both the quality
You can tell whether a tea garden is well-managed just by looking at these photos. That irrigation system, built with an investment of millions, really proves its worth during dry spells. Take a look—the sprinklers even created a rainbow! How could tea grown like this not turn out exceptional? Dedicated tea farmers have been busier
Every once in a while, a customer asks if we sell tea grown under ginkgo or apple trees. Curious, the store manager asked and found out the customer heard these teas have a ginkgo or apple aroma. I almost passed out upon hearing that—aren’t ginkgo trees super smelly? ヽ(o＾▽＾o)ノ /*! elementor – v3.10.0 – 09-01-2023
Hello tea lovers, Lishan, the areas around Fushou Mountain Farm, and Dayuling do not produce early spring tea. Early spring tea is only found in mid-to-low altitude tea regions. Tea trees in regions above 1,000 meters only wake up from their winter dormancy in February, meaning spring tea won’t be ready until late March at
The news from a couple of days ago—”Water Shortage Crisis! Fenqihu and Alishan Villagers Fight Over Water, Pulling Pipes and Falling Out”—really gave us a shock. If people are fighting this hard just for daily household water, what’s going to happen to the water for the tea plants? We headed up to the Alishan tea
At 9:00 PM on March 25th, it started raining in Lishan. We got 40 millimeters of rain over 24 hours—a very welcome daily total. The only slight downside was that it only rained for a single day, falling a bit short of the three days and two nights the tea farmers were hoping for. Still,
As I mentioned a few days ago, this year’s spring tea is facing a water shortage. Not only is the yield down, but we are also seeing “premature leaf maturation,” and even JinXuan tea, which usually grows vigorously, is not spared. Based on experience, tea gardens without irrigation water this season are looking at a
Last week, the spring rains arrived, bringing a significant amount of rainfall to the major high mountain tea regions in Nantou and Taichung. Over the past few days, Qingxin Oolong—the primary tea variety for high mountain teas—has started to sprout. However, we’re facing quite a tricky situation: many of the tea plants are budding all
I visited the Meishan tea region at the end of March to check on the spring tea harvest. Due to a lack of rain, many tea bushes hadn’t sprouted yet, and I already had a feeling the spring crop wouldn’t be great. I went back twice in early and mid-April, and just as expected, yields
Today I’d like to share an update on the spring tea harvest in the Zhuchi, Fanlu, and Alishan townships. These tea regions have been hit even harder by the drought than Meishan. Many tea gardens have seen their yields drop straight to zero, and even JinXuan, a variety known for its drought tolerance, has suffered
This year, the Alishan tea region has experienced a drought. Aside from slow growth and low yields, many tea plantations are also dealing with uneven growth and an issue known as “Gongsun buds” (literally “grandfather-grandson buds”). This year’s Gongsun bud situation is likely the worst we’ve seen in 20 years. /*! elementor – v3.12.1 –
In late April, our store manager visited the ShanLinXi Fanzitian and Sancengping tea regions to check on the spring tea crop. It’s safe to say it’s a mix of good and bad news. On the bright side, the spring tea here is “much better” than in Alishan and Gukeng. Unfortunately, there is still quite a
On May 1st, I visited the key tea-producing regions of the ShanLinXi tea system: LongFengXia and Budongyu. Just to clarify, I only inspected tea gardens situated at an elevation of 1,700 meters and above in LongFengXia. The roads for the 1,300 to 1,650-meter sections are far too steep, and I skipped them out of concern
To give you all an update—this tea region is completely different from the previous ones. The entire area is filled with a lively, upbeat atmosphere. Tea farmers are chatting and laughing, the tea plantations are buzzing with insects and singing birds, and even the stray dogs on the roadside look refreshed and vibrant. That’s right!
While the elevation of the DongYanShan tea region isn’t the highest, farm management across the various estates is generally quite solid. I had high hopes for this spring’s harvest, figuring diligent management might just help overcome the drought. Unfortunately, no miracles happened this time—the 2023 DongYanShan spring tea didn’t turn out very well. /*! elementor
