Pinglin
Pinglin (ๅชๆๅ) is a district of New Taipei. Pinglin is most known for producing pouchong (baozhong) tea, with over 80% of the population of the district employed in the tea trade. The Pinglin Tea Museum is the world's largest tea museum.
Get in
By bus
From Taipei City, take the MRT Green (Xindian) Line to Xindian MRT Station, the terminal stop. From there:
- Bus 923 weekdays: leaves hourly at half-past the hour; weekends: on the hour and half-past.
- Bus Green 12 (็ถ 12) weekdays: leaves at quarter-past and quarter-to each hour.
Get around
See
Historical sites
- ๐ Pinglin Old Street (ๅชๆ่่ก), โ +886 2 2665 6362. This pedestrian street is lined mostly with small tea stores.
- ๐ Chen Family's Old House (่ๅ้ณๅ่จ). A historic old house built by Chen Jie Sheng. The house is made of bricks sitting on top of a stone foundation, which was common of houses of wealthier residents at the time.
- ๐ Old Japanese Style Police Station (้็ๅฏฎๆฅๆฌ่ๆดพๅบๆ). The police station was built during the period of Japanese occupation and is over a century old.
Museums
- ๐ Pinglin Tea Museum (ๅชๆ่ถๆฅญๅ็ฉ้คจ), No.19-1, Shuisongqikeng, โ +886 2 2665 6035. M-F 09:00-17:00, Sa-Su 09:00-17:30. One of the world's largest tea museums. There are three main exhibition halls which show the history and process of growing tea, as well as an exhibition about tea leaves. NT$80.
Temples
- ๐ Nanshan Temple (ๅๅฑฑๅฏบ), โ +886 2 2665 6697. 07:00-18:00.
- ๐ Baoping Temple (ไฟๅชๅฎฎ), No. 79, Pinglin St, โ +886 2 2665 8172. 08:00-17:00.
Do
Outdoor and nature
- ๐ Jingualiao Creek Fern Trail (้็ๅฏฎ้ญ่จๆญฅ้), โ +886 3 954 5115. A pleasant hiking trail that follows a creek.
- ๐ Jiuqionggen Riverside Park (ไน่ๆ น่ฆชๆฐดๅ ฌๅ).
- ๐ Pinglin Ecological Park (ๅชๆ็ๆ ๅๅ), โ +886 2 2665 7251. 08:00-17:00.
- ๐ Stone Carving Park (ๅชๆ็ณ้ๅ ฌๅ), โ +886 2 2665 7251. A park on a hillside containing a number of carved stone statues.
Pinglin is also a popular site for camping in Taiwan and there are a number of campsites dotted around the district.
Buy
Eat
Drink
Pouchong (baozhong) tea is a lightly-oxidized (greener) oolong tea, produced in the hills south of Taipei. It's name means "the wrapped kind", as it was historically wrapped in paper while drying. Pinglin is the most famous growing region for this tea. In the tea stores throughout the district, you can find high grades of pouchong, as well as other varieties that are not widely distributed.
Sleep
Connect
Go next
- Enjoyed the tea, and want more? Explore Taiwan's other tea-growing regions, such as Alishan and Maokong.