This all cost a reasonablish 20 dollars Cdn in total I suppose, which to me seemed okay for lunch and tea for 2. Then off I went to have a look at that hiking trail, a set of stairs going up one of the mountains past a tea field or two, and probably up to the top to some great view! I excitedly started up the mountain only to find out that actually this was the “Neverending Stairs” trail, and that the humidity was a bit much for doing strenuous stair climbing activity, and that the stairs also kept becoming narrower, steeper, and more uneven with each step. But I persevered, thinking "I'm almost there by now...!!!" and "there will be a great view at the top!", but a good hour later when I finally got there, I am afraid to say there was no view at all, just an intersection of more trails going left, right, or down. Suffice to say that I was not too impressed by all of that, and back down I went, regretting the rather excessive exercise I was giving my poor (by now shaking!) knees and legs. Unless you can handle stair climbing for several hours, give this trail a miss.
Next, off I went to the Information centre, down a nice flat road, where I was able to see some pretty grand views of the mountains and valleys of this area, including a view of the city of Taipei (although the misty weather didn't make for great pictures of this...). As well, while I as walking, I came upon Even More teahouses, I couldn't believe it! It was quite the little industry here, and it was quite something to come upon so many little teahouses, literally hundreds of them, in the valley, in the mountain, along the street.....everywhere! Some were a bit ramshackly, some were really nicely set up, some were teensy, some seemed to be able to accommodate hundreds of people...it was amazing!
After strolling along for awhile, I eventually came to the information centre, which, by this time, was closed (that's what I get for persisting in getting to the end of that hiking trail!), but I didn't really care as I was enjoying the views and walk quite well enough on my own. So I kept strolling along, and after awhile I came upon a path that looked rather more interesting than the road (plus it didn't have any stairs…!), and so I walked along it, with Narnia-like lanterns lighting my way (it was getting near dusk by now), and next thing I knew I was in a teahouse that could have doubled as a fairyland. Fairylights were strung everywhere on trees and houses alike, and little winding paths and stairs seemed to go everywhere. I decided to have another tea break, and soon I was following some waiter down all kinds of little stairs and past all kinds of little gazebo like structures with tables and chairs in them, until I ended up nearly at the bottom of the tea house grounds in my very own little gazebo to have my tea!.
This was the highlight of the day, what a place! This time, I had tea according to the exact ritual you are supposed to do when drinking tea here, guided by our waiter and by a handy little handout with all the pictures of each step of what to do nicely set out for tea-drinking newbies.
This is what you do, for those of you who may be interested in that kind of detail:
Rinse out the teapot, various cups, strainer, and straining container with boiling water
Measure loose tea of your choice with the special wooden measuring shovel into the teapot
Add hot water, block up the tea spout for better brewing, and allow to steep
Pour tea through strainer into pouring pot
Pour from pouring pot into the tall, thin, tea cups (in order to appreciate the aroma of the tea first for awhile)
Pour tea from the tall thin cups into the tiny round cups
Drink your tea!
For this second tea experience I tried a different kind of tea recommended to me by the waiter. It was not quite as good as the first type of tea I had, but it was still a very good, kind of earthy tasting tea.
As well, when you buy tea for two, you get the whole canister of tea, so that would also explain why 20 dollars for tea for 2 was about right for the cost.
Well, and that was that pretty much it! I walked off to get the bus back, but what with one thing and another kept going around the next corner to see what was there, as this was a truly fascinating area to walk around in. Needless to say, I came across dozens and dozens of more teahouses, all lit up with lights, and all crowded with people. I kept on walking as by then I had gone a good mile down that road, and it seemed logical that eventually I would get somewhere. Sure enough, after awhile there was a sign directing me to the cable car station. This was a long walk by the way, and in hindsight, it would have been a shorter walk to turn around and head back to Mao Kong station.
However, some other people were also walking in the same direction, and eventually we did indeed come to a (totally different) cable car station, but we were happy enough to be near public transportation of some sort. I simply used my MRT card to get on and off we swooped down the mountain, through 2 more cable car stations until we got to the end of the line (Taipei Zoo Station), where I disembarked, and walked a few steps more to the MRT station that connected to that particular cable car station.
If I were a guidebook writer, I sure would write up Mao Kong and leave out Ping Ling.....but hey, being a tourist and being an intrepid explorer are possibly two different things. At the very least, they both deserve a place in a guidebook about Taiwan, especially considering the importance of the tea industry for this country. Enjoy!
