Course Description: To international consumers, Taiwan is famous for its bubble tea, but this is only the most popular image of tea culture in Taiwan. Taiwan has a rich tradition of tea production, service, and ceremony, due to its magnificent climate and its Japanese and Chinese cultural influences. Taiwanese tea includes four main types: oolong tea, black tea, green tea and white tea. In Taiwan, tea production and tea culture are renowned in Asia, including China and Japan, with rich symbolic connotations. “Experience and Reflection on Tea Culture in Taiwan” aims to understand the history of Taiwanese tea from the Qing Dynasty and the Japanese colonial period to the present day, reflecting historical and cultural change from “the art of tea” to its mass consumption and commodification In this course, students will experience a Taiwanese tea ceremony, learn about Taiwanese tea knowledge, master the steps of how to make Gongfu tea properly, and identify fine Taiwanese tea through tasting. Field trips will be arranged to a traditional tea farm to interview tea farmers and tea masters, with hands-on experience of picking, sorting, drying, steeping, and tasting several tea varietals. Students will create Fortune Pastries. (The pronunciation of pineapple in Taiwanese - “ong-lai” - sounds like “for fortune and prosperity to come” and this is the message that you send as a blessing to the receiver of the Pineapple Cakes.) At the end of this course, students will be able to make a delicious Taiwanese pot of tea and also set up their own tea ceremony, with proper utensils and implements. Students will understand the unique characteristics and culture of Taiwan through tea. This course is characterized by hands-on learning, an instructional approach where students are a community of learners creating knowledge through direct inquiry and experience.

Margaret Ledoux (2016), The Spirit of Tea Making: A Simple Guide to Enjoying Taiwanese Tea
Luis Lázaro (2017), The Chinese Tea Ceremony: Kung Fu Cha