Pinglin Tea Culture & Maokong Day Tour from Taipei
Description
This tour to Maokong and Pinglin presents a unique opportunity to explore the intriguing world of Taiwanese tea culture from seed to cup. Your tour begins with a scenic Maokong Gondola ride, offering stunning views of Southern Taipei from high above. Upon descending, you'll leisurely stroll along either the Maokong Tea Fragrance Loop Trail or Maokong Zhangshu Trail, each offers picturesque landscapes awaiting your exploration. Then continue your journey at Taipei Tea Promotion Center for Tieguanyin and Baozhong. In the latter part, you'll venture to the other two tea-originating locations, Shiding and Pinglin, relishing the awe-inspiring beauty of Thousand Island Lake and the distinctive Bagua Tea Plantation. Afterward, a visit to the Pinglin Tea Museum in New Taipei City will enhance your tea knowledge. As the tour approaches its end, you will have the opportunity to savor authentic Taiwanese tea at a local tea shop, concluding your tea tour with an additional depth of expertise.
Tour Options
Itinerary
After a 30-min drive, begin your exploration into the world of Taiwanese tea from Maokong. Located in southern part of Taipei City, Maokong is a popular destination for tea lovers, hikers, and those seeking panoramic views of the city. Once a major tea-producing area, Maokong is now known for its traditional teahouses, scenic hiking trails, and the captivating Maokong Gondola.
Your adventure commences with a scenic ride on the Maokong Gondola, designed for leisurely travel, boasts the lengthiest route, offering awe-inspiring aerial vistas of Southern Taipei. This picturesque ride offers stunning mountain scenery from a lofty vantage point, making it a favored activity among foreign tourists exploring Taipei.
The Maokong Tea Fragrance Loop Trail comprises four short, paved paths. Along the trail, you’ll encounter beautiful natural features like potholes, waterfalls, and forests, all visible during the hike. Known as the easiest hiking trail in Maokong, it’s suitable for individuals of all ages. The Maokong Zhangshu Trail is another beloved leisure trail among the locals, particularly during the blooming season of Lupinus. Along this trail, you’ll discover the terraced fields, ponds, tea gardens, and more, creating the sensation of stepping into an idyllic picture as you stroll through this scenic landscape.
The Taipei Tea Promotion Center for Tieguanyin and Baozhong serves as a leisurely park dedicated to showcase the exceptional quality and authenticity of Taiwan’s Tieguanyin and Baozhong teas. By exploring the center, visitors can gain insights into the evolution of Taiwanese tea and ecological knowledge through the informational exhibits, tea panning machines, and more.
After a few hours of walking, you might find yourself hungry and craving some local foods. Maokong, a popular place for a nature getaway in suburban Taipei, nestled in the mountains, offers prime locations to enjoy stunning panoramic views of the Taipei Basin. Beyond its scenic beauty, Maokong is a hotspot for tea tasting. Abound with teahouses, most of them offer freshly brewed teas and meals, allowing you to enjoy a delectable lunch in the delightful aroma of tea at your own expense.
Following lunch, after 1-hour drive, your tea tour proceeds with a visit to Thousand Island Lake in Shiding District, New Taipei City. Shiding, a rural area celebrated for its tea cultivation and stunning landscapes. The catchment area around the Feitsui Reservoir, nestled among hills, creates a distinctive scenery—a lake adorned with numerous islands. Its resemblance to the Thousand Island Lake in China has bestowed upon it the same name.
The natural terrain and climate create an ideal environment for tea cultivation in the surrounding area of Feitsui Reservoir. The Bagua Tea Plantation also locates in this area. When viewed from the hilltop, the neatly planted rows of tea bushes resemble the symbols of Eight Trigrams, which inspired the plantation’s name.
After indulging in the natural tea aroma, your tea tour continues to uncover the intricacies of tea processing and its evolution. The Pinglin Tea Museum, a Hokkien-style Siheyuan architecture, embodying the traditional dwelling of Taiwan, inviting the visitors to delve into the world of Taiwanese tea. This museum houses a rich collection of traditional harvesting tools, tea sets, samples, and more, offering insights into the history and evolution of Taiwan’s tea industry. Additionally, the interactive equipment within the museum offers visitors an immersive, sensory-rich experience.
While in Pinglin, you can’t miss the chance to savor authentic Taiwanese tea at a local tea shop. The tea sommelier will demonstrate the proper brewing techniques to bring out the flavors of the tea leaves, making your tea more aromatic and enhancing your tea tasting experience. Moreover, you will have the opportunity to sample various types of Taiwanese tea during your visit.
On the way back to our meeting point, you can choose to be dropped off at Taipei 101.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Ensure you carry enough cash with you to cover your expenses for meals, beverages, souvenirs, tips, etc. Convenience stores and most of the eateries in Taiwan don't accept credit cards as a form of payment.
- Not recommended for travelers with physical disabilities.
- A small amount of walking is involved; comfortable shoes are recommended.
Reviews(38)
If you're only in Taiwan for a few days and you're focusing your time in the Taipei area, this tour is a great way to get out into the countryside and see more of the country, even though you're never more than, like, 20 miles from Taipei 101. I like tea, but I wouldn't say I'm a huge connoisseur or have much knowledge about it, so this was interesting and sort of like doing a wine tour in France - seeing the plants, learning about the production process, and having proper tastings to learn how to best enjoy the product. Honestly, even if you're not really into tea, you could find this tour interesting (and the tea we tasted was pretty weak compared to what I'm used to, so if it's not usually your thing, you could probably muddle through). Walter was a very good guide, too, and very knowledgable. I didn't really know what to expect, but it was lovely! It was also only a small group of five, which made us nimble and didn't feel like you're part of a herd; we actually got to chatting with the other tour-goers, which was nice. The only critique I have was that the lunch stop in Shenkeng is not great if you're not into stinky tofu. If you are, then you're in luck! Because they're famous for it and, well, the whole Shenkeng Old Street reeks of the stuff. I'm not a fan and so it was tough to avoid the smell when trying to find something a bit more palatable. This wasn't listed as the lunch stop on the TripAdvisor itinerary so I hope that Edison will consider changing this up - even Taiwanese people will say that stinky tofu is an acquired taste, so going somewhere with more options and somewhere that doesn't have that ambient stench in the air would be preferable. Otherwise, this is a fun, unique itinerary that's worth checking out!
Mr. Hayashi, our guide, was very kind and helpful. When I asked them in advance if they could speak Japanese via chat, they immediately replied with a firm promise, and I was able to participate in the tour with peace of mind. Mr. Chen, the driver, was also a good driver, smiling and nice.
As far as I can tell, this appears to the tour (with Edison Tours) that I took. Although the tour at the time was called 'Pinglin Tea Culture/Elephant Mountain Day tour', the itinerary appears to be the same. It was a great small-group tour, with an excellent guide (can't remember the name of the guide, sorry). We started with a drive to the ThousandIsland Lake (Tei-Tsui reservoir), a very beautiful area with many tea plantations on the hillsides. We stopped at a tea plantation for a bit of an explanation about tea and how it is grown. We also had the opportunity to buy tea products (but no pressure to do so). After this we drove to the Pinglin Tea Museum, which was interesting, and which also had a very nice garden setting. We then visited the Pinglin Old Street, a street that preserves traditional Taiwanese architecture. While here, we went to a shop where we had a demonstration of how tea is traditionally prepared, and got to taste different varieties of local tea. We also had an hour to explore Pinglin Old Street. There we could get lunch if we wished (at our own cost). The day ended with a drive to the Maokong area, where we walked on the Zhangsha trail downhill for about 40 minutes, ending at a temple with a beautiful view over part of Taipei from its terrace, after which we took the Maokong gondola down to the valley, and then were taken back to our starting point. Overall it was a great introduction to some of the beautiful scenery around Taipei, and also the the tea culture in Taiwan.,
We had an amazing time. Kuan and Qiu are the dynamic duo. They made the tour fun. Their energy and vibe was just heart felt and warm. We had a great time just talking and enjoying each other’s company. If anyone is interested in doing this tour, I highly recommend requesting Kuan and Qiu if you want to have a memorable tour experience
Tony was a great guide. He is very knowledgeable about teas and about Taiwan. If you like tea, this tour is for you.
You can travel by Taiwan Express, if you use a Taiwan travel card, the cost is 300 Taiwanese yen, if the time permission is unlimited to ride back, unlimited number of times. The air on the mountain is fresh and the scenery is beautiful. In the cabin you can see the 101 building and the large green fireplace. The dawn and evening are the best time to travel, but wearing more clothes to keep cool. Optionally, you can ride a car on the bottom of the glass for more than 50 cents.
Good day trip to learn more about tea culture in Taiwan and to have better knowledge on the different types of Chinese teas.
The tour was amazing! Our tour guide Kevin Su was a wonderful and super friendly guide who knew everything about the area, and explained everything thoroughly. Whenever we needed pictures of us taken, he would take them without hesitation. A lot of times, he would even offer to take pictures of us without us even asking. In addition, the views of the thousand island lake along with the tea plants were simply wonderful!
Thank you for your wonderful review! We're delighted that you had such a great time with Kevin. His expertise and passion for what he does truly shine through, and we're glad it made your tour memorable. We look forward to having you join us again for another journey!
Very nice visit of less touristy areas around Taipei! The tea testing was especially interesting; I felt I got a taste of tawainese culture. Chiara and our flutist Driver were very nice and accomodating. Chiara knows a lot about Taiwan, it was so interesting!
Hi Julie, thank you for your amazing feedback! We’re delighted that Chiara left such a fantastic impression on you as your tour guide. We’re also glad you could discover so much about both Taiwanese culture and tea in just one day. We can’t wait to welcome you on another tour soon!
I had great experience in this tour! The tour guide Tawei Yu was very helpful and knowledgeable. He assisted me in my challenging situations during travel. Very heartwarming! The tea tasting experience was fantastic. We also saw birds like Galapagos, which was beyond my expectations. Highly recommend this tour!
Hi Guest. Thank you for your fantastic review! It’s wonderful to hear that Tawei made your tour special with his personal touch and deep knowledge. We take great pride in our team, and your feedback is truly appreciated. We hope to see you again on your next visit!
