Pinglin District

Getting there

By bus From Taipei City, take the MRT Green (Xindian) Line to Xindian MRT Station, the terminal stop. From there:

Bus 923 weekdays: leaves hourly at half-past the hour; weekends: on the hour and half-past. Bus Green 12 (12) weekdays: leaves at quarter-past and quarter-to each hour.

By taxi Taxis and rideshares from Taipei will happily take you to Pinglin, but it can be difficult finding a ride back, so plan appropriately or coordinate with your driver.

See

Historical sites 1 Pinglin Old Street, ☏ +886 2 2665 6362. This pedestrian street is lined mostly with small tea stores. (updated Aug 2019) 2 Chen Family's Old House. A historic old house built by Chen Jie Sheng. The house is made of bricks sitting on top of a stone foundation, which was common of houses of wealthier residents at the time. (updated Aug 2019) 3 Old Japanese Style Police Station. The police station was built during the period of Japanese occupation and is over a century old. (updated Aug 2019)

Museums 4 Pinglin Tea Museum, No.19-1, Shuisongqikeng, ☏ +886 2 2665 6035. M-F 09:00-17:00, Sa Su 09:00-17:30. One of the world's largest tea museums. There are three main exhibition halls which show the history and process of growing tea, as well as an exhibition about tea leaves. Describing this as a museum that is just about tea ignores some of the incredible strangeness this place has on offer, including a selfie-setup where you can pretend to be Diogenes hiding in his bucket, and an interactive game where you are served tea on a space station by some sort of android woman. NT$80. (updated Apr 2025)

Temples

5 Nanshan Temple, ☏ +886 2 2665 6697. 07:00-18:00. (updated Aug 2019) 6 Baoping Temple, No. 79, Pinglin St, ☏ +886 2 2665 8172. 08:00-17:00. (updated Aug 2019)

Do

Outdoor and nature 1 Jingualiao Creek Fern Trail, ☏ +886 3 954 5115. A pleasant hiking trail that follows a creek. (updated Aug 2019) 2 Jiuqionggen Riverside Park. (updated Aug 2019) 3 Pinglin Ecological Park, ☏ +886 2 2665 7251. 08:00-17:00. (updated Aug 2019) 4 Stone Carving Park, ☏ +886 2 2665 7251. A park on a hillside containing a number of carved stone statues. (updated Aug 2019) Pinglin is also a popular site for camping in Taiwan and there are a number of campsites dotted around the district. Birdwatching, a popular pursuit in Taiwan, is also quite popular here due to the abundant avian population.

Drink & nightlife

Pouchong (baozhong) tea is a lightly-oxidized (greener) oolong tea, produced in the hills south of Taipei. Its name means "the wrapped kind", as it was historically wrapped in paper while drying. Pinglin is the most famous growing region for this tea. In the tea stores throughout the district, you can find high grades of pouchong, as well as other varieties that are not widely distributed. Most of the tea stores will let you sit down for a tasting, and most tea shops in Pinglin are run directly by plantations, so the tea that you can get here is about the freshest that you're ever going to encounter.

Go next

Enjoyed the tea, and want more? Explore Taiwan's other tea-growing regions, such as Alishan and Maokong.