貓空

With nothing but our metro cards, we were able to travel into the jungle and spend the afternoon looking down from the mountains of 貓空 over the cityscape of Taipei. We have the brown line of the metro to thank. From our apartment it is a 20 minute walk to Da’An station. From there we took the train to the southernmost stop, the Taipei Zoo.

**A side note here- The government of Taiwan has decided to promote breastfeeding and in 2010 mandated that every metro station (as well as most public buildings and department stores) have a breastfeeding room. Though Taiwanese law grants women the right to breastfeed pretty much anywhere, these rooms are a lovely retreat from busy train stations and crowded shopping plazas. What an incredibly progressive and pleasant way to directly benefit mothers and babies while promoting breastfeeding!**

From the Zoo we walked two blocks south to the 貓空 Gondola. We swiped our metro cards for 50 元 and stepped into a “Crystal Cabin” cable car with a glass floor.  The gondola took us 4 kilometers up into the mountains over treetops and terraced tea plantations. Abel took a rest on the glass floor floating above the jungle. He's used to seeing trees above him and was transfixed to find them under his feet! We disembarked at the top on a windy road lined with tea gardens and temples.

 

At 山水茶馆 tea house we breathed in mountain air from the terrace as we sat at our tea table under an umbrella. Taipei spread out below us at the foot of the mountain. The tea we drank is called “iron tea” which is similar to oolong tea with a less smokey fragrance. It grows on the mountains of 貓空; little bushes of it grew next to our table. 

The tea house owner gave us a mini-lesson on tea preparation- she showed us how to wash the leaves, how long to steep for the first brew, and how to strain and decant the brewed tea. After the lesson she left us to lounge on the mountainside with the breeze and the birds for two hours. Abel gurgled and cooed as he listened to the birds and felt the breeze.



A lovely Tuesday Taiwanese adventure for our little family. Nice to know that a few hours and a couple of subway tokens can take you out of the city and into the fresh air and green of the mountains.