The tea culture tour is one of the best experiences I have had whilst I have been in Taiwan. What made it different was that we had the chance to see how an important part of Taiwan's culture works and we also had the opportunity to take part in it. The practical experience means that it is easier to understand and also easier to remember. I will remember this experience with a lot of fondness for the rest of my life! I feel extremely lucky to have had the opportunity to join this fantastic group and wish that everyone could be lucky enough to also do the same in the future.
All of the hosts and farmers were so friendly and eager to teach us what they have spent years learning on their tea farms. I admire the patience they had with us and their willingness to give up their precious time to teach us. This was a very busy time for them as they had the tea competition yet they still gave up their time to make our experience the best it could be. I could not thank them enough. Did you know that they drove Ana and I to Sitou on Saturday morning? We also had a great time there. It was a shame that everyone else had to leave earlier and couldn't join us because we were lucky enough to have great weather and we even saw a troop of monkeys in the trees above us. I had not realised how subtle the tastes of tea were.
The tea tasting experience we had on the Friday was really interesting. I found it so difficult to match up the teas I had tasted but the local tea farmers made it seem easy - just by sniffing the tea leaves. It was very interesting to see how they could tell by smell whether the leaves would make good or bad tea. My family are going to be enjoying the black tea that I rolled at Mr Su's place soon. I posted some to my mother in England and my brother in Germany. I hope they like it! This was a really nice thing for Mr. Su to do. To give up his tea leaves for us to roll and take home with us. What a generous man.
It was great that we were able to have hands-on experience of each step of making tea. From picking the leaves to drinking the tea (and pao cha). I really enjoyed being outside on the hillside picking tea leaves with the local tea pickers. They were such friendly people and didn't mind our big invasion! It felt very relaxing to be outside, close to nature, doing something productive. So much nicer than being in the busy streets of Taipei. I wish I could go tea picking every morning.
If it is possible I think people would really enjoy wearing the bamboo hats that the locals were wearing whilst picking tea leaves. Perhaps next time. Even though my chinese is still poor it was great to have the chance to practice speaking with lots of different people. Everyone on the tour was very understanding and tried to help. I met lots of great Taiwanese people. If I had to choose one aspect of the two days that I enjoyed the most I don't think I would be able to. It was all fantastic and I enjoyed every minute of it.
Also. thank you very much for meeting us at the train station and coming on the bus with us. This was really nice of you to do and meant we didn't have any worries about how to get to Lugu. I would highly recommend your projects to my friends and will urge them to join them but I will be really jealous of them when I am back in England! I don't know if I will be in Taiwan to take part in any more of your projects but if I am I will definitely sign up.
I'm so happy to have met you. Thank you so much for this great experience.
Cathy
石凯希
好棒的採茶體驗!! 希望有機會也可以到鹿谷遊玩^^
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