Wenshan Baozhong tea is produced in Taipei County Wenshan tea district, including Hsintien, Pinglin, Shenkeng, Shrding, Pinghsi, Hsichih …such townships, it already has 200 years of tea producing history, and is the birthplace of tea producing in Taiwan . It is located among surrounding mountains, has exceptional latitude and longitude, four distinct seasons, plenty of rainfall, and fertile land suitable for growing tea, so the tea grown here is known as a treasure among teas.

Where can the friends at Taipei County find traces of Wenshan Baozhong tea? The “Chingshin Tea Team” will strongly recommend a couple of good places that are worth visiting, learning, or resting.  

If you would like further knowledge about Baozhong tea and Tieguanyin, you must visit the Tea Leaf Promotion Center . The Tea Leaf Promotion Center building uses traditional brick red. Besides exhibiting Tieguanyin tea, there is also Baozhong tea from the neighboring Nangang District, it introduces the tea species, the process of making tea, tea preservation, methods of tea brewing, pouring tea, and the color of teas, all types of detailed information relevant to tea. They have also collected tea leaves produced in other areas of Taiwan , and provide detailed introductions about them to the public. 

Besides the tea leaf exhibitions, they also provide group tea art and Cochin ceramics instruction activities, so it is also often used as a field trip location for students. Outdoors they have soil and water conservation model locations, planned ecological pools, wooden plank roads, and weather observation decks, it is really a place you can learn while having fun.

The tea growing history of Maokong goes as far back as to the Qing Guangxu period, at that time the tea farmers introduced Tieguanyin tea trees from Fukien Anxi and grew them in the Muzha area. Originally it was just experimental, but later it flourished. It became an important origin for Tieguanyin tea in Taiwan , and the main tea town near Taipei . The phrase Maokong is said to be because Tsenan Creek flows past the valley near “Tse-Shan Chang Tea Garden,” because the soil is loose, the creek washes the riverbed into potholes. The holes are like the description “Maokong” in Taiwanese, after a while people started calling the Muzha tea district Maokong.

Since 1980, the tea farmers that have lived here for many generations started to change their management style, besides the original tea gardens, they also have transformed in the direction of tourism and recreation. Tea houses were established one after another, although it has attracted many tourists, but because of the commercialized tea style, it has resulted in the decrease of the tea garden area. When you arrive in Maokong now, it is hard to see a mountain filled with tea gardens, but near alley 38 and 40, you can still see a few. If you come every spring or winter, you can even see the tea farmers picking tea in the tea gardens.

Years ago, the Nangang tea gardens were mainly around Jiuzhuang St. Section 2, the mountains were steep and it was around 200 to 300 meters above sea level, local residents called it Dakeng Tea Mountain . When looking from above, the mountain terrain looks like a dustpan, so it is also called Dustpan Lake , the soil and weather are all suitable for growing tea. Baozhong tea was grown in the Qing Guangxu period, later it was established as the location of tea leaf education by the Japanese government. They employed the Fukien tea masters to teach about Baozhong tea, and the good quality was world renowned, at the height of that period the area of tea gardens reached 300 hectares, but because of the changing times, this is already a chapter in history. If you would like to understand Nangang tea mountain, you can go to the tea production demonstration factory as your first stop. This park is 2.9 hectares, and it first was open to the public in July of 2002. This building was built to model an ancient three-section compound with white walls and red tiles, representing typical Taiwanese spirit; it sits among the mountains and trees and has a view of the Keelung River , allowing the tourist to feel a comfortable feeling of natural surroundings.  

The demonstration field is divided into two regions, one is the indoor exhibition region, including the tea making machines exhibition area, the tea evaluation and exhibition area, and the briefing room. The outdoor region has the viewing and explanation platform. Besides enjoying the scenery, through various explanation signs, the variety of tea trees and growth conditions can be understood; it is a place that can help you understand tea culture.

The weather in Pinglin Township is very suitable for growing tea, as early as the years of Qing Jiaqing, there was Fukien immigrants that introduced Qingxin Oolong trees to be grown in the now called Wenshan tea district, giving it the name Wenshan Baozhong tea. Pinglin tea was the tea champion in tea competitions held by the early provincial government, the name of Pinglin tea was very well-known. The tea gardens in the area meander through 42 town alleys, you can see neat rows of green colored tea sceneries at sections of the Jingualiu Industrial Rd. and the Pinglin North Highway . Pinglin tea mainly includes Baozhong tea and Qingxin Oolong, Baozhong tea is fragrant with glistening gold tea soup, the taste is refreshing, and in terms of quantity and quality it is a high-grade tea in Taiwan ; along with the Dongding Oolong tea from Lugu Town in Nantou , they are called the two big tea sectors of the north and south.  

The Pinglin Tea Museum occupies 2.7 hectares; it is the world’s second tea museum, and also claims to be the biggest tea museum in the world. The tea museum is located next to the Pinglin old bridge, it is a two-floored Taiwanese style manor. In order to create an ancient feeling, the appearance of the building uses designs such as long corridors and round doors, and the building materials mainly consist of tile and wood. The underground level of the tea museum has a combined exhibition, it displays three main units: tea things, tea history, and tea art. Part of the tea things exhibits modern tea manufacturing machines, traditional tea manufacturing machines, tea categorization, tea production methods in the Tang and Song Dynasties, introduction to famous teas in Taiwan, and tea producing areas in the world and in China, around 15 major themes regarding the tea industry. The tea history exhibition has the origins of tea, the teas of different dynasties, an introduction of the Tea God Lu Yu, Pinglin tea history, and the history Wenshan Baozhong tea development, 15 topics related to the history of the tea industry. The tea art exhibition has 14 topics including tea pot nursing, introduction of famous teapots, tea songs, tea books, and learning about tea leaves.