Daxi Old Tea Factory (大溪老茶廠 · 台灣農林)

The Daxi Old Tea Factory was built in 1926 as the Jiaobanshan works of the company that is today the Taiwan Tea Corporation, whose own history goes back to 1899. It stands at No. 80, Lane 732, Section 2 of Fuxing Road, in the hills of Daxi past Cihu. For decades it ran three shifts exporting Nitto black tea, up to 600 tons a year, in a 1,670-ping building that mixes Taiwanese, Japanese and British construction. It took the name Daxi Old Tea Factory in 2010, was restored over three years and reopened in 2014.

Today it is a working heritage site with a tea shop, a café and an exhibition. The factory opens daily from 09:30 to 17:00, with the last food order at 16:30. Entry is NT$150 a person, and NT$100 of it comes back as credit on a purchase the same day; children under 120 cm go in free. A ten-minute film runs on the hour from 11:00 to 16:00 in the guide room, and a thirty-minute guided tour leaves daily at 11:00. The dining area asks a minimum of NT$200 a person and no outside food.

The teas carry the Taiwan Tea Corporation label, and the company's online shop lists what the factory stands for: Sun Moon Lake Ruby No. 18 and Taiwan Assam No. 8 in 50 g tins, a Sun Moon black blend and Bi Luo Chun. The list goes on with an organic hand-picked green from Daxi, a Miaoli Oriental Beauty, Alishan and Dong Ding oolong, and pu-erh in bricks and cakes. Getting there without a car: bus 710 from MRT Yongning to Daxi Old Street, then the 5104. On weekends the Taiwan Tourist Shuttle's Xiaowulai line stops at the factory.