Nantou County

Is tea your thing? Invigorating mountain scenery? The simplicity and purity of countryside life? Long meandering drives along roads with few vehicles through farmland and forest? Well, we’ve got just the multiday trip for you, to tea country in the west region of Nantou County, moving between flatlands and mountains about 1,600 meters up.

In long, comparatively narrow Taiwan, Nantou is the only landlocked county. It’s entered by most via the long, narrow flatland strips on its western flank – at the edge of the western plains – leading up ever higher through foothills into central mountain fastnesses where surprisingly high numbers of permanent residents are found.

Nantou is primarily rural, just a few urban areas, with tea a key crop, grown on plantations in almost all of the county’s 12 townships. The climate is ideal for tea cultivation. Temperatures average 15~24 degrees Celsius, and dramatically varying terrain, elevations, and climatic conditions result in teas of unique character from each growing area.