Roaming the Bagua Mountain Tea Fragrance Trail and Enjoying a Deep Forest Breath

Focusing on central Taiwan, both Changhua and Nantou have many famous tea plantations, such as the Ruan'an Tea Plantation in Zhushan, Nantou, also known as the Bagua Tea Plantation, because its terrain is oddly curved and shaped like a bamboo hat, making it a famous photography spot. The tea plantations ring around in circles just like the bagua, and if surrounded by mist and clouds, it is like a fairyland on earth, very comfortable and pleasant!

 

Around the Bagua Mountain range in the Tri-Mountain National Scenic Area of Changhua County, there are also many tea plantation trails. The most recommended is the Tea Fragrance Trail, mainly centered on the Songboling Tea Plantation Area in Nantou and Tianzhong Forest Park, with a total length of about 4 km. The route is gentle and easy, with tea plantations everywhere along the way, as well as many interpretive signs, allowing visitors to better understand the various tea-making processes. The facilities are well established, and on the way up the mountain you can also gaze into the distance at the beautiful towns of Ershui, Tianzhong, and Yuanlin, making one feel relaxed and joyful.

 

Songboling, which is closely connected to the trail, is itself also a famous scenic area. The mountain area is lush with greenery, and it is also called Songbokeng Mountain. It is located at the southern end of Bagua Mountain and is named for its luxuriant pines and cypresses. It is the highest peak at the tail end of the Bagua Mountain hills and is also one of the eight great scenic spots of Nantou. It features temples and multiple trails, and most importantly, vast tea plantations, which bring the fragrance of tea to this trail.

 

Songboling ranks first nationwide in tea planting area and tea production. It has large areas of tea plantations and tea factories, with many varieties and flavors, including well-known varieties such as Qingxin Wulong, Cuiyu, and Sijichun. The tea trees grow in a relatively high-altitude environment, often with clouds and mist lingering nearby, as if one were placed in a fairyland.

 

Strolling along the Tea Fragrance Trail, you can see rows of neatly ordered tea plantations and smell wave after wave of fresh fragrance, creating a double enjoyment for sight and smell. In the middle of the trail there is a small hillside, on top of which stands a viewing pavilion. If you are tired, you can rest here and look down over the entire tea plantation area, taking in the whole expanse of emerald tea gardens. At dusk you can also see the sunset, and enjoying the scenery along with the tea fragrance makes it even more unforgettable.