TEA lovers would surely love
spending their time at the lovely Maokong Village. The village which used to be the largest tea
growing area in Taipei has now become a tourist destination for tea culture.
Situated at the edge of the
Taipei Basin, Maokong is also the perfect place for viewing the entire city and
relaxing away from the hustle and bustle of downtown Taipei.
Our Maokong experience
Our Maokong experience
We arrived at the village past
lunch time, 2PM to be exact, since we got on the wrong bus (haha more about
that soon). We saw some tea fields along our way going to Maokong and since
it’s a mountain the weather up there is way WAY colder than downtown Taipei. It
was also raining that time which is a perfect add on to the chilly weather.
There are a lot of tourists in
the area which made it easy for us to navigate on where to go next because we
just followed the crowd. Our first stop was at a food court near the station
(turn left at the exit) which sells snacks and rice meal which my mom
absolutely loved. We also met some Filipinos who were also touring the area.
Doing prior research we just
trailed the road along the left side of the station exit, it was a peaceful
village with lots of trees. There are not much any taxis or buses in the area
so we just really walked our way. We then found a line of tea shops where
tourists go for some tea tasting. I also heard tourists talking about trying
some tea ice cream and that was our main mission there.
Not minding the cold weather
(because who says no to ice cream?!), mom and I tried one at the Maokong Tea
House. We ordered the Bao Zhong and the Tie Guan Yin tea ice creams it came
with a cute cat tea cookie. It cost about NTD 80 each and it was absolutely
yummy. I really loved the cookie as well! The tea house/café also has beautiful
interiors which makes it a perfect place to hangout in the village.
Going further on that
direction is also the Taipei Tie Guan Yin and Pochung Tea Promotion Center.
Getting there
We took a cable car (Maokong
Gondola) from the Taipei Zoo Station going to the village which took about 30
minutes. The Maokong Gondola System is composed of four stations: the starting
point which is the Taipei Zoo Station, Taipei Zoo South Station, Zhinan Temple
Station and the last stop which is the Maokong Station.
Fare going to Maokong is at
NTD 120 but we only paid NTD 100 since we used our easy cards and got a
discount. Passengers may also choose between the regular and the crystal cabin
(Eyes of Maokong Gondola) which features glass flooring which enables you to
have a better view of the area. We took the crystal cabin going to Maokong and
the regular cabin going back since there are long lines for the crystal cabins.
Maokong Gondola Taipei Zoo
Station is located at No. 8, Section 2, Xinguang Road, Wenshan District. We
again went here with the help of Google Maps but you can take the brown line
via MRT going to the Taipei Zoo Station. Maokong Gondola is open from 9AM to
9PM and is closed every Monday for maintenance.
Also published in SunStar Davao on January 31, 2018
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