Central Taiwan to host international tea festival

台灣中部舉辦國際茶節

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Nantou’s Zhushan Township Office will host its third tea festival at the county’s Zi Nan Temple from May 24 to June 1.

The office held a promotional event at the temple on Wednesday, featuring a traditional tea display by a local tea ceremony association. This year's festival will include booths from more than 60 tea vendors and offer 18 hands-on activities, per CNA.

The office said the festival's opening and closing ceremonies will feature live performances and cultural exchanges with tea masters from Japan and South Korea. Visitors who spend over NT$1,000 (US$32.26) at the venue can enter a raffle, while those who spend over NT$5,000 will have a chance to receive a commemorative coin set from Zi Nan Temple.

The festival's hands-on activities, priced at NT$100 each, include weaving handmade coasters, making oolong tea lotion, crafting tea bags, painting tea cups, tea tasting, and creating scented sachets, according to the organizer.

The office said the township primarily grows Oolong and Jin Xuan teas, with a total cultivation area of about 1,200 hectares. The agency added that it will offer guided tours for visitors to explore tea plantations and experience tea-making and tea-picking.

Nantou County Government added the county has 6,552 hectares of tea cultivation, accounting for more than half of Taiwan's total, with an annual production of around 7,372 tonnes. The agency holds a tea expo every October in Chung Hsing New Village, attracting an estimated 400,000 visitors annually and generating around NT$100 million in sales.

Taiwan exports approximately NT$700 million of tea annually, according to the Agriculture and Food Agency. While China is the largest export market, the US has become the top destination since the COVID-19 pandemic, accounting for 30% of total tea exports.

Taiwan’s tea farmers have, however, expressed concerns that US tariff policies could lead to businesses importing tea from Vietnam or China and falsely labeling it as from Taiwan.