Since I started to blog my teahouse experiences in Taipei, my friend was curious about the number of teahouses in Taiwan.
Taiwan government doesn't have any statistics about this, but I can tell you around 10 km from where I live, there are at least 30 teahouses and numerous take away tea shops. You can also easy get ready to go tea drink and bottle tea drink at convenient stores.
The teahouses I have visited so far are classified as ‘Tea Art houses(茶藝館)’, which combine with tea, pottery and arts. This name started in 1970.
Today we visited a teahouse in FuJin street, which is famous for its cultural atmosphere. The shops here are unique and tranquil.
No shop sign, only a rlung rta (Buddhist flag) hangs in the air supported by bamboo canes. It’s a rainy day and I feel like I am Chihiro in the film Spirited Away pushing open the door to reveal lots of customers enjoying food and tea. In the corner or in private rooms you can smell the food, tea and incense. They have small art exhibitions and buddhist displays. It's easy to guess the age of this teahouse from their authentic decoration.
The pottery kettle was burning, the antique tea set was ready for us. I can tell the story on the teapot, it has been used for several decades. We’ve tried three types of tea, including Song Yun (Dongding) Oolong, Brown sugar black tea and Iron Goddess. The tea roast master made excellent tea, especially brown sugar black tea. The fragrance is full of brown sugar. The taste is very smooth and naturally sweet. Alongside these teas the hosts presented warm pineapple, red bean, cocoa red bean cake together with green bean pastry, a great combination with roasted tea. I had a great time with nice tea and enjoyable chat with friends.
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