East Rift Valley Tea Region
Chike mountain and Liushishi mountain, where daylilies and tea grow on the same slopes. August’s gold is the famous picture, but the tea is here all year.
Itineraries3
- A day on the Wuhe terrace, where honey black tea comes fromDay tripRuisui → the Wuhe terrace → tea gardens and coffee → tasting at the tea shops: honey black tea and Tianhe tea → the Saoba standing stones → the Tropic of Cancer marker → the Ruisui hot springsHoney black tea was worked out here: leafhopper-bitten shoots made into black tea, and the sweetness is nothing like an ordinary black. Several gardens on the terrace make it, so you can taste your way along.
- Chikeshan, two to three daysTwo days possibleThe Chikeshan tea district and Chike farm → the Gaocheng, Tianxin and Dashi gardens → the viewing deck → Forget-Sorrow Valley → a guesthouse or campsite → sunrise and morning farm life the next dayDawn and dusk are the hours. Midday light is too hard for either the daylilies or the gardens.
- Liushishishan: daylilies and tea makingTwo days possibleThe Liushishishan daylily park → the lookout → the An tea factory → the Yishun farm → the Tiezhanggui tea shop → the 964 station → stars, fireflies and insect song after darkThe tea-making camp covers picking, processing, a tasting meal, judging practice, and making your own tea jelly and tea eggs. Book ahead.
Sights and trails
A raised platform cut by the Xiuguluan river, with tea gardens and coffee side by side. The Tropic of Cancer marker stands here, and drinking a honey black tea on that line is the thing you will remember about this stop.
A neolithic site: two stone pillars standing on the terrace, and nobody has settled what they were for. Right beside the tea gardens.
Around 1,000 m, some 160 hectares of daylily. In season the hill goes gold, banded with the green of the tea.
The daylily’s other name is the forget-sorrow herb. This is the best spot on Chikeshan for sunrise.
Things you can do yourself
Several gardens on the terrace make and sell their own, so you can go from one to the next. They all say honey black tea, and every one has a different roast and a different sweetness — a chance to compare that few places give you.
Picking, processing, a tasting meal, judging practice, and making tea jelly and tea eggs. By appointment, usually for a group.