Department of Cultural Affairs

The Department of Cultural Affairs, Taipei City Government plus Taiwan Cultural and Creative Foundation are holding a tea event that runs to November 14 at the Huashan 1914 Creative Park in Taipei.

This event named the 2010 Joyful Life with Tea combines tea ceremonies, esthetics, lifestyle, arts and creativity. It also showcases the richness of various tea cultures and tea industries. Visitors can take full advantage of this great opportunity to appreciate tea cultures from Taiwan, Japan and South Korea.

In Taiwan, people always provide their guests with a cup of tea as a gesture of a warm welcome -- tea-serving culture in local daily life. During this ten-day festival, visitors will have a chance to sip different kinds of tea, such as the oolong tea, Paochung tea, Pomfong tea and Alishan tea.

Lin Ku-fang, director of Fo Guang University’s Graduate Institute of Art Studies, said tea was regarded as one kind of beverages in the Western world but considered a lifestyle of esthetics in Eastern societies.

The organizers also provided visitors with more than 30 selected teas, 30 different classes and three lectures by 15 Taiwanese tea masters, 16 live theaters, as well as four performances of Japanese and Korean tea ceremonies.

This event aims to promote Taiwan’s new soft power including good tea and gorgeous flowers.

At a press conference held in Taipei on November 5, Hsieh Hsiao-yun, Director of the Department of Cultural Affairs, Taipei City Government invited visitors at home and abroad to join another big event -- the Taipei International Flora Exposition, which will run through April 25, 2011.

For more information, please call (02) 2358-1914.