...It’s amazing how tea can bring close friends even closer....
And how tea can bring together complete strangers… I decided it was time for a solo road trip so after consulting with the front desk at Poetree my destination was set to Jioufen (pronounced jo-fun). The mountain town is now known for its tea and was once famous for its gold mines in the 1890’s. In its hay day it was nicknamed “Little Shanghai” and was a bustling town with a pretty happening nightlife. It presents itself as an artistic and magical little town with lots of crafty vendors, galleries and beautiful tea houses. An hour bus ride later and after missing my stop and taking a U-turn; me, myself, and I were dropped off in front of the 7-11. I tried to wipe the lost look on my face as I looked around for… well... THE TOWN?! I re-read the description in my lonely planet (way to be discrete) and the directions stated “follow the stairs next to 7-11, into the town”, I walked over to the 7-11 and low and behold hidden next to it were some stairs. I hesitantly began up the stairs and after a quick turn I was swept into a whole new world, it was Jiufen! I continued up the stairs stopping only for a quick taste of taro mochi ice cream. I was starving and directionally challenged at this point so I did the most logical thing, walked into the next restaurant that looked clean and had a menu in English. Luckily this one also had an outdoor patio that provided a panoramic view of the scenic cliff and endless ocean that Jiufen overlooked… breathtaking! I ordered some food and tea and sat down to my view. Now, traveling alone provides an internal and external adventure and most times both make for an interesting story. Sitting in my corner I did a quick look around and noticed one other woman sitting by herself with her nose in a book, she made no eye contact so I figured she wanted to be left to herself. A few minutes into my moment, another woman walks over to my table and asks (in very broken English and lots of hand gestures) if she could sit down, “of course you can” I said. This is the great thing about traveling, no matter how much of language barrier there is; somehow the messages still get communicated… that’s called connection. And here is irony: as this woman and I tried to communicate the server came out to ask for her order, this woman talked to her in Korean, and after she left, the other woman with her nose in the book began speaking to the woman at my table in Korean. 15 minutes after my arrival and I am sitting with Korean woman from Korea who speaks little English, A Japanese woman from Japan who is an English teacher studying Korean, and Me and Indian girl from America who speaks English and is studying charades. Between the three of us we managed a very engaging conversation and spent the next few hours together at the Jiufen tea house sipping fresh tea and laughing.
Be open to experience, you never know what it has to offer, you never know what it has to offer.
And how tea can bring together complete strangers… I decided it was time for a solo road trip so after consulting with the front desk at Poetree my destination was set to Jioufen (pronounced jo-fun). The mountain town is now known for its tea and was once famous for its gold mines in the 1890’s. In its hay day it was nicknamed “Little Shanghai” and was a bustling town with a pretty happening nightlife. It presents itself as an artistic and magical little town with lots of crafty vendors, galleries and beautiful tea houses. An hour bus ride later and after missing my stop and taking a U-turn; me, myself, and I were dropped off in front of the 7-11. I tried to wipe the lost look on my face as I looked around for… well... THE TOWN?! I re-read the description in my lonely planet (way to be discrete) and the directions stated “follow the stairs next to 7-11, into the town”, I walked over to the 7-11 and low and behold hidden next to it were some stairs. I hesitantly began up the stairs and after a quick turn I was swept into a whole new world, it was Jiufen! I continued up the stairs stopping only for a quick taste of taro mochi ice cream. I was starving and directionally challenged at this point so I did the most logical thing, walked into the next restaurant that looked clean and had a menu in English. Luckily this one also had an outdoor patio that provided a panoramic view of the scenic cliff and endless ocean that Jiufen overlooked… breathtaking! I ordered some food and tea and sat down to my view. Now, traveling alone provides an internal and external adventure and most times both make for an interesting story. Sitting in my corner I did a quick look around and noticed one other woman sitting by herself with her nose in a book, she made no eye contact so I figured she wanted to be left to herself. A few minutes into my moment, another woman walks over to my table and asks (in very broken English and lots of hand gestures) if she could sit down, “of course you can” I said. This is the great thing about traveling, no matter how much of language barrier there is; somehow the messages still get communicated… that’s called connection. And here is irony: as this woman and I tried to communicate the server came out to ask for her order, this woman talked to her in Korean, and after she left, the other woman with her nose in the book began speaking to the woman at my table in Korean. 15 minutes after my arrival and I am sitting with Korean woman from Korea who speaks little English, A Japanese woman from Japan who is an English teacher studying Korean, and Me and Indian girl from America who speaks English and is studying charades. Between the three of us we managed a very engaging conversation and spent the next few hours together at the Jiufen tea house sipping fresh tea and laughing.
Be open to experience, you never know what it has to offer, you never know what it has to offer.
