Tea Tasting Trip in Nantou, Taiwan

I remember that I wrote about Taiwan’s Chinese Tea Ceremony in my English Composition class when I was a college student in the States a while ago. Time really flies by and it has been 6 years already. Now, I live in Taiwan and see people changing the way of drinking tea, especial the young generation. They go to a tea shop which is similar to Starbuck Coffee to buy a cup of brewed tea and share time with friends. It is much more convenient compared to the traditional way of drinking tea. It also seems to adapt to the modern lifestyle which requires everything must be quick and no time to wait.   But, it changes the relationship between people and the enjoyment of drinking good tea with friends. 

The traditional way of drinking tea is not about quenching people’s thirst in Taiwan culture. It is about the spirit of tea. When we have the tea ceremony, we enjoy the companionship and share our feeling and lives with friends and loved ones more than the quality of the tea. When you visit Taiwan, don’t forget to experience the art of tea in the Taiwan tea ceremony.

回憶起不久前，在我的英文寫作課時交了一篇有關在台灣的茶道文化，當時的我還只是一個學生。没想到時光飛逝，一轉眼已經是六個年頭了。回到台灣，看到台灣人喝茶的方式變了，尤其是年輕的族群。大家似乎已經習慣的到茶店小鋪如星巴客一般的店面買一杯飲料茶，再和朋友談天聊地。不可否認地，這種喝茶的方式確實比傳統的方式方便多了，也更符合現代人凡事講求的快速和没有耐心等候的生活習性。然而它也改變了人和人之間的關係以及和朋友分享一杯好茶的喜悅。

在台灣的文化中，傳統的喝茶方式並不是在解口渴而是在於喝茶的精神。當我們在品飲茶道時，我們要的是那種和人分享生活經驗以及人和人之間的緊密關係，而這種關係又比一壺好茶重要。當你來到台灣時，別忘了親自體驗台灣茶的藝術。

The way of Tea Competition Procedure（台灣比賽茶評比的方式）:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsXJ6FGLivY

Christmas Celebration in Bunun Tribe, Nantou County,Taiwan

A Wonderful Christmas in Taiwan

We visited our friends in Fongchuo, Sinyi Township, Nantou County. It is a small Bunun aboriginal village with only 51 students in the elementary school. It was the school’s anniversary celebration, Christmas day, and also New Year for the aboriginal people. The elementary school and the village were holding an athletic event together. It is common in many aboriginal villages in Taiwan. Almost the entire villagers turn out and get together to celebrate this event. Gene was invited by the principle to the VIP stage and was introduced to all the villagers. He had to wave his hand to everyone. Since he was treated as an honored guest, he had to participate in the celebration. Gene became a team member for the tug of war. As a result his team won the event and he was exhausted.

We also saw two volleyballs games being played. Each game had two balls in play at the same time with twenty people who were a mix of teens, adults, grandparents of both sexes on each side.

In the afternoon, we were taken to the BBQ party at the former chairman of the school board with three of our niece and nephews. It was the first time we met all the people who were from many place in Taiwan. It was also the first time for our niece and nephews visited an aboriginal village. They were excited to have a chance playing with an aboriginal boy and experienced their lifestyles because they only read about the aboriginal cultures and customs from their textbooks. Everyone was happy to attend this party and enjoyed the traditional aboriginal full pig B.B.Q. The meat tasted good; however, it was not a comfortable experience for five of us at first because of seeing the head on the pig. Gradually, we accepted and respected their unique lifestyle which we had never experienced before.

When we left this passionate and friendly aboriginal village, we had a really unforgettable and remarkable Christmas with at least 30 bunches of famous and good quality grapes and 50 ears of sweet corns in our trunk. Tonight, we had our sweet corns and talked about our wonderful experiences in a cold evening. The villagers have touched our hearts.