• 2021-12-27

To enable foreign scholars visiting Taiwan to understand Taiwan’s rich natural and cultural landscapes, the National Central Library invited holders of Ministry of Foreign Affairs Taiwan Scholarships to participate in cultural visits on December 15, 2021, to Pinglin Luguang Farm and Pinglin Tea Museum, in New Taipei City.

The National Central Library is one of Taiwan's important platforms involved in inviting foreign scholars to visit Taiwan. Since 2010, more than 1,000 Ministry of Foreign Affairs Taiwan Scholars and other scholars from 83 countries have come to Taiwan. The event was led by National Central Library Deputy Director General Chih-Tsung Weng, and Klement Gu, Director of the Department of Policy Planning, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who jointly led about 17 scholarship recipients and their families from 10 countries, including Australia, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nigeria, the US, Peru, etc.

On the morning of the activity, the first visit was to Luguang Farm. The visiting scholars put on tea-picking outfits, experienced the soft wet soil of the tea garden and learned about tea seeds, camellia, tea trees, related products and the tea-picking experience. From there they proceeded to the tea production area to learn about the processes and procedures by which fresh tea leaves become final tea products. In addition to setting about making tea refreshments and enjoying tea-tasting activities, you can also enjoy local tea meals with tea in dishes of Chinese food, and experience the Pinglin tea industry, life and tea in depth, as well as how culture and the tea industry affect the local cultural activities and natural environment.

In the afternoon, it was arranged for the scholars to visit Pinglin Tea Museum, which is currently hosting the special exhibitions Tea Mountain Science and Red Amber. Tea Mountain Science introduces Pinglin’s natural landscape, local history, and the tea industry as it has adapted to the environment and culture. It provides an understanding of the local ecology, historical views and cultural relics. Red Amber, on the other hand, introduces the origin of black tea, with introductions to the Western process, the rise of the Western afternoon tea culture and how the demand for tea in the West affected past cultural exchanges and wars between the East and the West.

This visit allowed the scholars to experience Taiwan's rich natural and cultural characteristics, in the hope that they will promote the beauty of Taiwan to the international community in the future.