Astronaut bunny lanterns, ‘Taiwan LV’ bags, tea: How Taiwan’s young people are reviving their grandfathers’ traditions

In the neighbouring historic Dadaocheng area, there is Wang Tea, also known as You Ji Ming Cha, a tea manufacturer and wholesaler established in 1890. Having exported prized Taiwanese tea to Thailand, Japan and Hong Kong in the past, the business is now run by the family’s fifth generation, who are in their 20s and 30s. They conduct educational tours of their premises detailing how their tea has been sorted, blended and charcoal-roasted over the decades.

I was treated to a brewing and tasting session of some of their teas, like Tieguanyin and Oriental Beauty. Here, I learned that the proper way to taste tea is to swirl it noisily through your mouth along with some air, in order for the flavours to take flight.

There’s much to say about the irony of how bubble tea was invented in Taiwan in the late 1980s against a backdrop of economic growth and an embracing of the new, in contrast to how the current trend seems to be a rekindled interest in the old. But, history, like many things, is cyclical, as they say, so, while we may not be surprised, it behooves us to appreciate the efforts of those fighting to keep their cultural traditions alive.

MARKETING WHIZ