Lynda's Taiwan-logue

< Visited in Jul 2019 >

In my quest for less touristy destinations, Pinglin 坪林 came across as being one of the more accessible districts. Governed under New Taipei City 新北市, it is an approximate hour's drive from Taipei Main Station, to an entirely different landscape. A rustic mountainous town which flourished with tea (particularly Pouchong 包種) cultivation, it used to be a popular pit-stop between Taipei and Yilan before a new highway cut the journey short. The district now promotes low carbon footprint travel, and made a marvellous day trip for me, which I'll share in this post if you are considering a similar excursion.  

<Visited in Jul 2019> 

Pinglin Tea Museum 坪林茶业博物馆, part of my Pinglin day trip 坪林一日游 and not to be mistaken with Tea Cultural Museum 茶产业文化馆, is about 15mins stroll from Pinglin Old Street - though it's advisable to cater more time for the scenic route. 

< Visited in Jul 2019 >

A name that popped up when I was researching tea plantation tours, Just Pinglin 坪感觉 is owned by a couple from other parts of Taiwan who decided to be part of the Pinglin community. With a travel service workshop set up in 2013 - Pumpkin No. 3 金瓜三号 - this cafe is their new venture and recently launched in May 2019, sitting at a prominent entrance of Pinglin Old Street.      

Though I didn't take on their tour this time (something to consider for future trips, I guess), lunching here after visiting BY-TeaMaster 白青长茶作坊 was part of my highly-anticipated Pinglin day trip 坪林一日游.  

< Visited in Jul 2019 >

Taiwan as a tea kingdom needs no introduction. As a frequent tea (and coffee) drinker, though not a connoisseur at all, my Taiwan travels have greatly exposed me to varied flavours, creative concoctions and increasingly, a thirst for related sights and knowledge. My attention was drawn to a label called Taiwan BlueMagpie Tea 台湾蓝鹊茶, having bought their tea sachets from a distributor retailer before, and seeing the work they do in the tea mountains of Pinglin through their FB. About an hour's drive from Taipei Main Station, Pinglin 坪林 was good (and new) news to me, as it means an opportunity to explore a tea town without having to travel hours all the way into the central mountains. (The other alternative in Taipei would be Maokong 猫空, which I enjoy in other ways but personally consider more touristy.) 

Needless to say, I went about planning my Pinglin day trip 坪林一日游, in the course of it, discovering BY-TeaMaster 白青长茶作坊.  

< Visited in Mar 2019 >

The Taipei most of us know consists of two separately governed municipalities - Taipei City 台北市 and New Taipei City 新北市. The latter has been seeing some new and cool urban developments (actually same for the rest of Taiwan, which continues to evolve faster than I can travel). While the latest to launch is the Circular (yellow) MRT line, in January 2020 - with vibrant Banqiao 板桥 as one of its stations - the highlight of this blog is Danhai Light Rail Transit (LRT) 淡海轻轨, opened to the public in December 2018.