A Day at Sun Moon Lake: Cloudy Views, Warm Tea 🍵 |📍𝑵𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒐𝒖 | Follow Me to Taiwan

Now, let's go see the beautiful Sun Moon Lake from above. Sun Moon Lake is located in the Yuchi Township, which is famous for its black tea. We're very glad to have the opportunity to experience the black tea culture of Sun Moon Lake. Besides tasting the high quality fragrant tea, we also learned that tea culture is deeply embedded in Taiwan's everyday life. The Sun Moon Lake Ropeway spans from the Itadao Harbor to the Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village. It offers a bird's eye view of Sun Moon Lake, and you can view the majestic mountains while enjoying a gentle breeze. You can see the famous attractions, fish ponds, and pulley basins from above. The seven-minute journey gives you a panoramic view of Sun Moon Lake, so you can view the scenery from an angle you've never seen it before. It truly is a sight to behold. Because usually, like, there's usually a sun out here. It's usually pretty good weather, but today there's a lot of fog. It's a different style. Like a fantasy. Like in heaven. Like we're going to a different universe, a different world. Have you ever been to heaven? Yes. Have you ever rode a cable car before? Yes. Yes, but only in Taiwan. What? Yeah, because I live in the States. I live in South Carolina. And, you know, the U.S. is so big. And, you know, to get anywhere, you have to drive, and it's a hassle. And actually, when I came to Taiwan, I've done... I've had so many first times here with so many different things. Because Taiwan is very small. It's small, and everything is accessible. It's close, and it's amazing. So yeah, my first cable car was in Taipei. Yeah, how about you? Maokong, Maokong. Maokong, yeah, yeah. Wow, look at... Wow, it's disappeared. No more Sun Moon. Oh, wow. We're in a cloud. We can't see anything. Wow, you only see cable. And the cars coming by are empty, like a ghost. Where are we going? Oh, wow, you can't see anything. It's my first time. You can kind of see the trees, but just the top. Oh, wow. You can't even see the next car. Yeah. Are we moving? Yes. Okay. Sure? I don't know. I can't tell. Is time stop? Oh, there's people. Hey. I don't think you wanted to wave at me. If you can't see anything moving, you will feel time freeze. Right. We're just stuck in time. Yeah. In a void. All right. It's time to go to the next stop. Sun Moon Lake is famous for its black tea. So, of course, we've got to try it out. We're heading to a factory known for its high quality black tea leaves. And it's a perfect combination of tea, cultural experience, and sightseeing. All right. Just get out the cable car. Yeah. Now, oh, wow, look at all those tea trees. Yes. And it smells good here. Yeah. Oh, yeah. So many food. So many. Fresh food, too. You smell it being cooked. Do you think it's crazy how in Chinese, you guys call it red tea? Yeah. Why in English is black tea? I don't know. I think, I'm guessing maybe because we look at the color of the tea leaves and they look black. Yeah, I've seen like when you open up the tea bags, the leaves are dry and they're black. But when you put it in the water, when you brew it, you get a red tea. Yeah, red tea. It's weird. A little like coffee. Yeah. Yeah, the same color. In Taiwan, tea plants are widely grown from the plains all the way to the mountains. Many tea farmers work very hard to produce a variety of savory flavors that are world-renowned. Sun Moon Lake is located in the Yuchi Township, which is famous for its black tea. The black tea here dates back to the Japanese colonial period. The Japanese introduced black tea to the township over 100 years ago. And that's why it's called the hometown of black tea. Yeah. But this is a very Taiwanese way of greeting teachers. Oh, wow. We respect our teachers. So you have to bow. Yeah. For the teachers. For the teachers, yes. Okay. In the States, the teacher comes in, we're like... That's a different culture. Yeah. But what should... What are we doing here? Yeah, what are we doing here? Hello, everyone. I'm today's teacher. What's your name? My name is Katie. Katie? PJ. I'm her assistant. PJ. Pyjama. Okay. Yeah. PJ. Justin. Oh, Justin. Okay. Just in the day. WC. Did you just... Yeah. My name is Wong. And my wife's name is Ching. So if you come to my house, you will see front door. WC. You open the door. The left side is for man. Right side is for woman. Do you get a lot of visitors? Yeah, so many. So many. Okay, don't talk nonsense. Be serious. We're here today to learn how to make tea. Really? Yes. Tea testing. Okay. Today, we will drink our Yuchi tea. Okay. Today, we will drink four different tea from the fish poor country. County. Teacher, is this okay? Yuchi tea? Right? Do you think it's okay? It's up to me. My English is translated for Taiwanese. Foreigners won't understand. But Taiwanese will definitely understand my English. Yes, my English is understood by Taiwanese. Okay, and then Yuchi tea. Four different tea. Yes, so today we will start with Yuchi tea. Okay. Purple duck. Purple duck, you know? If you go to massage, you can choose oil or purple duck. Oil or purple duck. Today, we will practice purple duck red tea. Purple duck. Purple duck red tea. And then the second one is Asam. Okay. The third one is... That's special here, right? This is a special one here. It's also the most famous red tea in Taiwan. It's called Hong Yun. The fourth one is Hong Yun. The two names are very similar. But they are completely different. How are these four different? Can you introduce them to us? The first one is purple duck red tea. Because it is... You see, its name has no number. In front of it, you see, there are numbers 8, 18, and 21. Yes. Which one are you talking about? Purple duck. So that massage tea. Purple duck. Yeah, this is a... Original. Yeah, a native tea plant to Salmon Lake. So if you see the tea name, the tail has a number. That means it has been improved. Oh, okay. So if there's a number right beside the tea name, that means it's been genetically modified. And it's been changed. It's not the original. Okay. The instructors are teaching us everything about black tea. They prepare the tea using professional brewing methods and premium tea leaves. We were lucky enough to try four different flavors of Sun Moon Lake's black tea. The instructors describe the tea in great detail to help us not only understand the different varieties, but to also learn about the black tea's history. It's hot. Okay. All right, so... Professional. Wow. It's great. I thought it would taste the same as regular black tea, but it doesn't. Because you can smell the air. You can smell the fragrance. And you can taste it in your mouth. We're very glad to have the opportunity to experience the black tea culture of Sun Moon Lake. Besides tasting the high-quality, fragrant tea, we also learned that tea culture is deeply embedded in Taiwan's everyday life. Most importantly, the tea leaves here are regularly supplied by small local farmers. The factory works with tea farmers to promote the black tea culture of Yuchi Township and Sun Moon Lake. Now, we know there is a story behind every cup of tea, and you can just feel the richness of the culture in every sip. All right, Zacks. We've had all four different teas, black teas. You familiar with them? Okay. Okay, you got it? Yeah, I got it. No problem. All right, well, good, because I know our friend Zacks here, he's a TV host. He hosts a lot of game shows, and you've also played in a lot of game shows, right? So you like playing games, right? Yes, of course. Okay, well, we have a challenge. Okay. We're going to do a blind taste test. Blind test. Yes. Blind taste test. Yes. Of course. We're going to put on a blindfold. We're going to have four cups of each of these teas, and we have to guess which one is which. Yes. So the winner, of course, is the winner. You get to drink tea. Okay. The loser has to serve tea to the winner. Oh, no problem. Okay. Have you tried this before? Serving? Yes. Sometimes. Sometimes, okay. Sometimes, you know. I will be the winner. Oh, really? Yeah. Okay, okay. He's got confidence. Let's get on with the game. Okay. One, two, three. Close your eyes. Okay, let's start. Okay. I can smell. That's good. Smells so good. You can smell it already? Did you put it in front of me? Where's the tea? I can't see anything. Yeah, I can't see anything, too. Teacher, you have to tell me. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Where is my tea? Oh, yeah. My tea is here. Thank you, teacher. You're so good. Okay, let's go. It's difficult. How's your feel? Feels like one of the first two. First two? Yeah. Okay. Do you have answer? I think so. Okay, let's open our eyes. Do we put a number up first? No, you can open eyes. Oh, we can open eyes. Yeah. So. Now we're all done drinking. Now you can tell everybody. Which one is your tea? One, two, three, point. Okay? Okay. One. Finger. One, two, three, four. One. Two. Three. Oh, which one, which one? Which one is the correct answer? Someone is right. Who? Oh my god, it's me. You peeked. I saw you, you peeked. Wait, I saw you. Alright, let's do the next one. Okay. We're not gonna, we're not peeking. We're not peeking this time. We're peeking the last time either. We're not peeking this time. I forgot to close. You didn't close your eyes? Okay, it's fine. It's fine. Okay. I trust you. Close your eyes. I trust you too. You first. Why? Together. Same time. One, two, three. Alright, there's one more. Okay. Be honest, honest. Okay. When I close my eyes, my smell becomes very good. It enhances your smell. Yeah. I'm really scared. So you can... We can open eyes now. Okay. Yeah, that's right. Use your mouth to drink. Use your nose to smell. Don't get mixed up. I got it. Already? I got it. Okay. I got it. Maybe I have it. Can you give me one more? One more? I want to make sure. They'll pick it up and show you. That's right. I want to make sure. I want to make sure the answer. Okay. Yeah. One, two, three, four. Okay. I think I have my answer. Three, two, one. You're playing games with me now. No. Someone who is right. Oh my god. Oh my goodness. You told that. I did not. I saw you peeping. Why are you... Why are you peeping at me? So you're peeping. Why are you looking at me? Looking at stuff. So you're peeping. I'm peeping at you. I'm not peeping at you. Okay. Okay, I lost. I lose. I will be served for you. Thank you, Mr. Zacks. Okay. Thank you for your kind service today. Please enjoy. This is the most good taste black tea in Taiwan. Oh my goodness. Thank you. You're welcome. It was delivered by you. You drink tea. I eat egg. This is for you also. That's fine. And this is actually tea egg. Why? So what's different? It's different? It smells really good though. Okay. Thank you. Cheers. Cheers to black tea. Yeah. How can I not share the delicious food with my good friend, Zacks? The tea eggs here are marinated in special ingredients and it takes four days to make them. You can really taste the sweet fragrance of the tea which is very different from other tea eggs. All right. We've done the tea testing. I think we're familiar with the brands of black tea we have in front of us. So now PJ is going to take us to mix and match our own unique black tea. Whoa. For our own self. Something we can take home and share with our family. Okay. Each type of tea has its unique fragrance and flavor. And here at the factory, you can make your own blend just the way you like it. It's a profound and luxurious tea tasting experience. Okay. Sounds like a song. Yeah. Okay. After creating our personal blends, the next step is to seal them in a tea urn. As we store our memory and leaves in the urn, it feels like we're making a time capsule. The sun, moon, lake black tea sealed inside will become more flavorful over time. And when you brew the tea, the rich fragrance will surely overwhelm you beyond words. The factory also provides calligraphy and handmade rice paper for you to write down your love and blessings, which makes it a perfect place to start.