Dayuling tea is grown along the Central Cross-Island Highway in the Dayuling section, between the 97 km and 105 km markers. The tea gardens sit at an altitude of over 2,200 meters, with the 104K tea garden (now removed) reaching nearly 2,700 meters, making it the highest hand-cultivated oolong tea garden in the world.
Introduction to Dayuling Tea
Located at the intersection of Taichung, Hualien, and Nantou, Dayuling is not only a crucial transportation hub but also produces prized high-mountain crops. Among them, Dayuling tea has become a top-tier, highly coveted Taiwanese high-mountain tea due to its exceptional quality, limited production, and distinctive mountain aroma. The popularity of Dayuling tea is mainly driven by its high altitude and large temperature swings between day and night, which minimize bitterness and enhance its natural sweetness. Combined with the cool breezes from Hehuanshan blowing year-round, the tea develops a remarkably unique “mountain profile” flavor.
Dayuling tea is harvested twice a year, in spring and winter, with an annual yield of about 10,000 kg. Because of its outstanding quality and scarcity, the harvest season always attracts tea merchants eager to snap it up. Wholesale prices start at NT$4,000 per 600 g, while the most expensive 105K Dayuling tea commands NT$12,000 per 600 g—and demand still outstrips supply, a testament to its exceptional quality.
In recent years, with a growing emphasis on soil and water conservation, development in the Dayuling tea region upstream of the Techi Reservoir has been restricted, and tea garden lands are gradually being reclaimed by the Forestry Bureau. As a result, Dayuling tea production is steadily declining and may even disappear in the future. Tea lovers who haven’t tried it yet should seize the chance to taste it while they still can.
Grown at high altitudes above 2,200 meters, Dayuling tea features a distinct mountain character.
2022 Update: Due to government land reclamation in Taiwan, the tea growing area has been scaled back. The maximum altitude has now dropped to 2,400 meters.