Longtan and Yangmei are cycling country. The slopes are gentle, the ponds many, and the tea gardens sit between fish ponds and farms, so you can stop often. This is also one of the districts that makes Oriental Beauty.
Itineraries2
Longtan tea country by bicycleDay tripSanyuan Temple → the Kaiji Dabogong shrine → Liangshan farm → Gaoyuan tea estate → Zhixinyuan leisure farm → Ading tea garden → an ornamental-plant talk → Xu Fu-ju’s tea world → the Gaoyuanxuan studio → the black forest → the Nijuzi pond → Shuilongyin → the fitness trailA loop back to where you started. Plenty of stops — take the whole day over it.
A day in the Yangmei tea gardensDay tripYoushi interchange → Fengshi organic tea garden → Puxin ranch → the Weiquan visitor ranch → Yangmei tea gardens → Fancheng education farm → Fengshi organic farm → Fugang Jiyuan farmTea gardens plus ranches, which works well with children. The Yangmei trails look out over the whole terrace.
Sights and trails
The pond landscape
The Taoyuan terrace is dotted with thousands of hand-dug irrigation ponds, three centuries old. Cycling here you keep meeting water.
Around the Gaoyuan tea estate
Longtan cannot spray if it wants *phòng-hong* tea: no leafhoppers, no honey aroma. In summer you can see the bitten leaves on the bushes.
Things you can do yourself
Garden tours and tastings
Most of the visitor gardens in Longtan and Yangmei take bookings for a tour: watch the processing, drink the results. Contact them first.
What is on, and when
June–AugustThe Oriental Beauty picking window. This tea is only made in summer, because it waits for the leafhoppers.
April–MayTung blossom. The hill roads from Taoyuan towards Hsinchu go white on both sides.
Eat, sleep, travel
EatHakka food and peanut nougat in Longtan. Most of the leisure farms around Yangmei serve meals.
SleepWithin an hour of Taipei, so mostly a day trip. Some leisure farms have rooms.
TravelBus from Taoyuan HSR or Zhongli TRA. By car, the Longtan or Daxi exits of Freeway 3. The district is spread out — without a car, consider renting a scooter or hiring a driver.
