Alishan's Trails and Tea
Farms.
If you��re looking for
a short and sweet stroll
through a forest of Japanese
cedars in Alishan, you
might find Dinghu to be
a suitable place. Though
most trees here are efforts
of reforestation in the
last century, this camphor
tree is hundreds of years
old.
Jian
Kun-ying, B&B
Owner:
This camphor tree
is about 300 to 350
years old.
I hear it��s worth
quite a bit.
Its market price is
tens of millions of
NT.
As
long as you stay on
the stone path, you
won��t lose your way.
Jack, an English traveler,
finds this hike just
perfect.
Jack
Harrison, Traveler:
The air feels great,
there are lots of
old trees and it feels
special. Actually
when I first came
to Taiwan, I just
stayed in Taipei.
I didn��t know that
there is a place as
wonderful as this,
so it��s a real surprise.
What
is also surprising
to Jack is the number
of tea farms in the
area.
Wang
Jyun-ci, Tea Farmer:
1, 2, 3. Three leaves
and the bud. This
is where you pick
it. Like this. Towards
us.
Alishan
produces some of Taiwan��s
best oolong tea, and
the secret to good
tea here is also in
the air.
Wang
Jyun-ci, Tea Farmer:
We are within 50 km
within the Tropic
of Cancer, have an
oceanic climate and
plus we have lots
of fog. Fog also means
lots of cold air,
so tea trees grow
slower, giving it
a better quality.
It tastes really good,
really smooth.
Every
year, tea farmers,
importers and enthusiasts
come from abroad to
Alishan for study
tours.
Hiking
trails and drinking
tea, it sounds like
Alishan might also
be attractive as a
zen retreat!