Last week, the store manager wrote an article on the “Current Status of Dayuling Tea” which received a lot of great feedback. Today, let’s chat a bit more about the current conditions and some fun trivia about the Dayuling tea region. First off, Central Cross-Island Highway (Provincial Highway 8) had its mileage markers shortened by about 2–3 kilometers a few years ago. The old 105K mark is now around 102K, but our discussions on the “Current Status of Dayuling Tea Region” will still stick to the traditional mileage markers.
Current Status and Fun Trivia of the Tea Region
Trivia 1: Many people assume the 105K Truffle Tea Plantation is the highest tea plantation in the Dayuling region, but it’s actually 104K. While 105K tops out at around 2,560 meters, 104K exceeds 2,600 meters at its highest point. The store manager climbed up to check out the highest point, and it’s noticeably higher. The photo below shows the tea bushes at the highest point—these are officially the highest commercially cultivated tea bushes in the world!
Trivia 2: The highest tea plantation in the current Dayuling tea region is indeed the 105K plantation. The highest surviving tea bushes sit at an elevation of about 2,560 meters. Below is the reading the store manager measured in 2022, showing the highest tea bush at an elevation of 2,561 meters.
Trivia 3: For tea plantations below the 105K mark, the elevations measured by the store manager are all under 2,400 meters. Currently, there are no longer any tea plantations in Taiwan situated above an altitude of 2,600 meters.
Trivia 4: Dayuling tea seems to be everywhere on the market, but its production is actually extremely limited. The plantations that still produce notable quantities today are located at 100K, 101K, and 103K, with a total annual yield of under 5,000 kg. Even if you include 95K and 98K, the total is probably around 7,000 kg at most—and the store manager feels that’s still an overestimation.
Trivia 5: The tea bushes at the 105K Truffle Tea Plantation are still alive today and are currently being harvested. Aside from the Qingxin Oolong tea bushes at 2,550 meters, there are also a few JinXuan tea bushes near the entrance of the plantation around the 2,400-meter mark. These are likely the highest-grown JinXuan tea bushes in the world. Word has it there are also a few CuiYu bushes at the Truffle Tea Plantation, though the store manager couldn’t find them. The trimmed tea bushes on the right side of the road in the photo below are JinXuan, sitting at a minimum elevation of 2,446 meters.
As a side note, there is a gigantic Taiwan hemlock right beside the 104K tea plantation. Its base is about as large as a truck, and the trunk is massive, straight, and strikingly majestic. The store manager always feels that 104K tea tastes especially good, and this tree probably adds a lot of character to it. Here’s a photo taken back in 2014—pretty, right?
