Route: Guzaowei Soybean Milk Shop (Chinese-style breakfast) → Taipei Zoo → Maokong Gondola Maokong Station → Small Cottage Tea House (lunch) → Chang Nai-miao Memorial Hall and Three Stone Teapot Museum (tea-related exhibits, tea utensils) → Camphor Tree Trail (tea-plantation views) → Cafe Xiang (coffee break) → Taipei Tea Promotion Center for Tieguanyin and Pouchong (tea-culture experience) → Taipei Tea Promotion Center Trail → Pot Holes → Yau-Yue Tea House or Big Teapot 1F Tea Restaurant (dinner and night views).

Touring Wenshan – A Maokong Gondola Ride, and a Taipei Zoo Safari

Start your day bright and early with a traditional Chinese breakfast. Guzaowei (''Old Time Flavor'') Soybean Milk Shop (古早味豆漿店) is located near National Chengchi University (政大) and the former home of ROC President Ma Yingjeou (馬英九). It's said that Ma had a fondness for the breakfast here. The great taste and attractive prices draw local students in large numbers, and queues are frequent. The house specialties, crispy hand-made danbing (蛋餅; egg pancake) and plump, filling-rich fantuan (飯糰; rice roll), matched with the signature soybean milk at just NT$10 a cup, are absolutely delicious.

After breakfast, hop on a bus beside the shop for the short ride over to the hugely popular Taipei Zoo (臺北市立動物園). Explore the sprawling grounds, visiting animals from lands around the planet, including koalas from Australia, red-crowned cranes from Japan and pandas from mainland China. A trip around the park allows you a close-up look at myriad rare and precious animal friends (see pp 34-35).

There's a Maokong Gondola station inside the zoo, ultra-convenient for visitors who want to take a ride up into Maokong. As you float up into the hills the lovely panorama of mountain and mist-shrouded tea plantations unfolds ahead, with the sky-scraping Taipei 101 tower looming in the distance. A vista of lush green mountains fills up the view beyond and below.

Wandering Trails Amidst Fields of Tea – The Charms of Tea Culture

After arriving at Maokong Station, visit the Maokong Gondola Maokong Station Visitor Center (纜車貓空站遊客中心), which stocks a wealth of Maokong-related travel information. The city government has also set up 33 guide signs with information on scenic spots and trails in the area, making your meanderings even easier.

There are many teahouses and scenic restaurants in the vicinity of the gondola station. If you'd like to linger over some quality international cuisine while gazing out over the environs of the Camphor Tree Trail (樟樹步道), head to the right when leaving the station and walk about 5 minutes to reach the Small Cottage Tea House (小木屋茶坊). It has the ambiance of a rustic European village, and offers such hearty fare as fresh kiln-baked pizza and specially-made Italian spaghetti – a great place to replenish your energy for the rest of the day.

After lunch, the day's tea-culture quest begins in earnest. Follow the hilly backroads, and you'll soon come to the Chang Nai-miao Memorial Hall (張迺妙茶師紀念館). Chang was the tea master that brought Iron Goddess tea to the area, and within the hall are displays on his life, on the production process, and on other related matters. Guide service in both English and Chinese is provided.

Next, move on to Three Stone Teapot Museum (三墩石茶壺博物館). The curator of the museum, Zhang Kunhong (張坤鴻), is from the ninth generation of the family that has worked this land. The family plantation is opposite the museum, and during the annual winter and spring tea harvests Zhang is out working the fields like everyone else. Zhang has a love for Yixing zisha or ''purple clay'' teapots from mainland China, and there is a display of over 100 pieces here, quite a treat for visitors with an interest in tea culture.

The start of the Camphor Tree Trail is across from the museum. The trail stretches 1.2 km, and its grades are gentle. The trail passes by old pioneer-era pig sheds, charcoal kilns, granaries, and clay-brick houses. All have been restored by the City Government, making an afternoon traverse, under the warm sun, time well spent indeed.

A Combination of Old and New – Savoring Maokong’s Never-Ending Charms

The exit of the Camphor Tree Trail is back near the Maokong Gondola's Maokong Station. Head off in the other direction and you'll come to a cafe of very special character that brings a gust of fresh air to the environment of Maokong. The warm, comfy, homey atmosphere at Cafe Xiang (Cafe巷) attracts many for afternoon tea. Order the special two-person Western-style afternoon tea set, lean back against the white window sills, gaze out contentedly over the mountains, and relax.!

After a relaxing coffee break, next stop is the Taipei Tea Promotion Center for Tieguanyin and Pouchong (鐵觀音包種茶研發推廣中心). the center gives full background on the development of the tea plantations in Muzha (木柵). There are displays on Taiwan's major tea varieties and on how to drink, brew, and preserve tea. There's also a tea arts instruction area and free tea samples to enjoy. You'll come away from the center with far more tea-related knowledge than when you entered.

Before the sun starts to head down behind the hills, take a walk along the Taipei Tea Promotion Center Trail (茶推廣中心步道). The trail first follows a murmuring stream down a flight of steps, and after a half-kilometer or so decends to a bigger stream at Maokong's scenic and fascinating pot holes. The name ''Maokong'' literally means ''cat's hollows,'' because the pot holes in the stream-bed rocks reminded people long ago of imprints left by cats with their paws. The holes, of course, were eroded over the eons by rushing stream waters. The pronunciation in Taiwanese is ''Niaokang,'' in Mandarin Chinese ''Maokong.''

Sampling Tea, Savoring Sweeping Night Views – Maokong at Night

When night falls, those who specially enjoy the tranquility and night vistas of the hills can head to the secluded Yau-Yue Tea House (邀月茶坊). Here you can sip tea and chat the night away. Another fine choice is the Big Teapot 1F Tea Restaurant (大茶壺1樓茶餐廳), where tea itself is a star culinary ingredient, while enjoying a splendid and sparkling night view of Taipei laid out below.

Sit back, draw on a hot and steaming cup of golden brew under the sparkling starlight, with the lights of Maokong spread before you; a perfect way to end to a day in Taipei's fascinating and scenic center of tea culture.