New Taipei: Chinese Tea Ceremony at Idyllic Shi-Yang Cultural Restaurant

One of the things I wanted to do while in Taipei was to attend a traditional tea ceremony. The online search led me to Shi-Yang Cultural Restaurant located in the mountains of Xizhi District in Xinbei (New Taipei), approximately 30-45 minutes from Taipei, depending which area you will be coming from in the city.

The restaurant and tea house in the mountains.

Shi-Yang bids a tasteful, cultural and idyllic take on Chinese dining. The restaurant is nestled in the midst of flora and fauna, far away from busy Taipei. It is being run by Buddhist monks who live, work and pray there. The design of the restaurant is open and minimalistic, blending in well with the natural surroundings and the values the restaurant represents.

By the way, Taipei and New Taipei are 2 different municipalities in Taiwan. The latter completely surrounds Taipei, the capital of Taiwan.

The cultural restaurant actually offers three types of services and these are:

1) Set lunch program
2) Set dinner program
3) Tea ceremony

They do not have a menu and the food served depends on the season’s produce. They have vegetarian options. The restaurant serves the set lunch and set dinner in aesthetically presented courses and you can combine this with a tea ceremony. It is not cheap to eat here.

[To read the rest of the post and see more pictures, click the READ MORE link below]

Read more »