Guide (pronounced gui-de) Street was Taiwan’s first ever street of foreign-owned businesses operating in Taiwan. This short street of approximately 330 meters, connecting Minsheng West Road and Changan West Road, was thick with foreign businesses and consulates, and was formerly a major center of quality tea production in Taiwan. This street was witness to the heyday a century ago of the Taiwan tea trade, where Taiwanese tea merchants made fortunes exporting tea leaves. Although Guide Street has since declined, and the tea trade has moved to the surrounding Chongqing North Road Section 2 and Baoan Street, there are still hints of its former glory to be seen in old buildings such as the Chuan Hsiang Tea Shop and the Lee Chun-sheng Memorial Christ Presbyterian Church.
Located on Minchuan West Road, Mingshan Tea stands to the right of Zhaoyang Tea Park. You have to look out for the simple, unassuming shop front, otherwise you might just miss it. The owner Kao Yin-tu is a tea master with a wealth of experience selecting and processing tea leaves.
In addition to plying high quality traditional Taiwanese tea leaves, Mingshan Tea also sells pyramid tea bags, convenient for when you want to brew a cuppa on the go, and loose leaf imported teas. There is a special table for trying out teas, lined with wooden tea trays, where customers can ask to sample tea leaves to see if they want to buy them. According to Kao Yi-fang, a second generation tea master at Mingshan Tea, they will select two or three kinds of loose leaf tea, depending on what the customer is after, and brew them for the customer to taste and sample the aroma.
Photo courtesy of the Taipei City Department of Cultural Affairs
照片:台北市文化局提供
(Liberty Times, translated by Paul Cooper)
貴德街是台灣第一條洋行街,連接民生西路和長安西路大約三百三十公尺的短街道,洋行、領事館林立,曾經是台灣茶業的精製重鎮,見證了一百多年前台灣茶商因茶葉外銷而致富的黃金歲月。雖然現在的貴德街已經沒落,茶葉生意多移到周邊重慶北路二段、保安街一帶,但是藉由老建築如全祥茶莊、李春生紀念教堂等,我們仍可一窺其當年的風華。
站在民生西路上,明山茶業位於朝陽茶葉公園的右手邊;樸實的店面需稍加留意,否則很容易錯過。第一代老闆高銀塗為茶師傅出身,對於茶葉的挑選與製程擁有老道經驗。
除了傳統的台灣好茶販售,明山茶業同時販售方便攜帶沖泡的立體茶包和國外進口茶葉。
明山茶業的泡茶鑑定桌擺滿一排木頭試茶盤,顧客可以要求當場試茶做為購買依據。明山茶業第二代高毅芳表示會依據顧客的需求先挑出二、三款茶葉沖泡,讓消費者嘗飲、聞香。
(自由時報)
A: Artificial intelligence technology has been causing controversy lately: a student was caught cheating with AI to win the grand prize in an art contest. B: That’s so absurd. Does this mean that AI paints better than humans? A: Maybe. Luckily, the student was later disqualified. B: And more absurdly, it’s becoming more and more popular to use AI technology to “resurrect” people. A: Yeah, some netizens even posted videos featuring the late singer CoCo Lee, who was “resurrected” by them with AI software. A: 人工智慧的爭議不斷,有學生違規使用AI參加美術展,甚至贏得首獎。 B: 真誇張,這是不是代表AI比人類還強大? A: 或許吧,幸好得獎資格被取消。 B: 還有更誇張的︰讓死者重現的「AI復活」技術越來越熱門。 A: 對啊,還有網友製作已故歌后李玟「復活」的影片呢! (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
It’s no secret that Japanese people have a deep affection for noodles. Like in the rest of East Asia, noodles are an important staple food, second only to rice. Japanese people have enjoyed noodles for over 1,000 years. The first noodles came from China and were introduced around 800 CE. As time passed, noodles in Japan not only became widespread but also developed some unique Japanese characteristics. The three most popular types of noodles in Japan are ramen, soba, and udon. Ramen, typically made from wheat flour, is usually thin and firm. The dough is kneaded and left to
Rice is an essential ingredient in Taiwanese cuisine. Many foods are made of rice, adding more variety to our cooking, such as rice cake, or “gui.” Wagui is made by steaming rice flour batter in a bowl. The term “gui” refers to a type of food made from rice, while “wa” refers to a bowl. The pronunciation of “gui” in Taiwanese Hokkien is similar to the word for “nobility” in Chinese, so it is common for people to prepare various types of gui, including wagui, as offerings to the gods or ancestors,. 米是台灣重要的主食,用米製成的食品十分多元,豐富我們的飲食,如米做成的「粿」。粿的意思是米做成的糕點,碗粿是將在來米漿倒入碗中蒸熟,因而得名。粿因為音同「貴」,因此碗粿等粿食常用作供品祭拜神明和祖先。 nobility (n.) 高貴,高尚;貴族 offering (n.) 供品 While Taiwan may not be
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