Week 5

I highly recommend a place in the mountains called Maokong. I went last Friday, once again with my teacher Weng Laoshi. We started our trip in Gongguan (Taiwan University) and took the brown-line subway all the way to Taipei Zoo, the last stop. From there you take the gondola up into the mountains until you reach Maokong. The view from up there is spectacular. You are 300 meters above ground and all you see is forest and Taipei 101 soaring into the sky, quite a surreal juxtaposition of nature and the modern times.
Up in Maokong you are no longer surrounded by cars, motorbikes and 7-11 chain stores. Clean air, few people, and family owned tea houses everywhere you go. What a good feeling. We took a walk and ultimately settled in one of the tea houses facing the mountain cliff. From there on the balcony you get the best landscape perspective. We ordered local green tea brewed in traditional ways. You get a large tea kettle with hot water, local tea leaves, tea cups and a small tea pot. The pottery is crafted buy local ceramists, maintaining an artform appropriate for its tea and its area. It was quite an aesthetic experience. The tea tasted excellent and the manner in which it was prepared was an art performance in itself.