While many people might know Tainan as Taiwan’s oldest city and its capital for more than 200 years, they might not know that the southern municipality also grows coffee plants. Tainan is now hoping to promote not only its rich history, but also coffee made from the beans grown in Dongshan District (東山).
In 1884, the British brought coffee plants to Taiwan, and what was then considered an exotic agricultural product was first cultivated in New Taipei City’s Sansia District (三峽) in northern Taiwan, the Dongshan Farmers’ Association said.
During Japanese colonial rule in 1941, Taiwan saw peak coffee production after the Japanese introduced arabica to the island, the association said.
Photo: CNA.
However, the coffee industry in Taiwan was hurt by World War II as well as a deteriorating economy in the post-war era before momentum picked up in the past few decades, with more local consumers growing fond of the beverage. Coffee has since become part of the daily lives of many Tainan residents.
Most of the coffee plants in Tainan are grown in what is known as the global coffee belt — mountains 500m to 800m above sea level.
Donghsan’s coffee farms are close to the Zengwe, Baihe and Wushantou reservoirs, where temperature, humidity and soil quality are ideal for coffee cultivation, the association said, adding that growers want to let people outside the city enjoy their product.
“The city is working to boost the visibility of Dongshan coffee, allowing more coffee lovers to know its good quality,” Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-cher (黃偉哲) has told reporters.
The city has almost 57 hectares of coffee farms, with Dongshan as the major growing area, covering 53.9 hectares, the Tainan Agricultural Bureau said.
That makes the city the largest coffee growing area in Taiwan, with an annual harvest of 730,000 tonnes.
Since most of the coffee farms in Dongshan are along County Highway No. 175, the road has been nicknamed “Coffee Road.” Many coffee shops have popped up on both sides of the road to satisfy visiting coffee lovers.
Wu Cheng-fu (吳振福), who runs “Old Home” coffee shop on Coffee Road, said that Dongshan always offers fresh coffee, which is an advantage no imported coffee can offer.
“Since Dongshan is famous for its longan and orange farms, Dongshan coffee has a special fruity aroma,” Wu said.
About 100 coffee farmers work along Coffee Road, where more than 30 coffee shops have been opened, Wu said.
As part of Tainan’s efforts to promote its coffee, it is planning to build an agricultural leisure park in Dongshan with the aim of attracting people from around the nation to taste the local coffee, the bureau said.
Dongshan is keen to seek approval from the Council of Agriculture for the establishment of the leisure park to promote its coffee, the bureau said.
In Taiwan, leisure agriculture parks are usually built in 18 to 24 months after approval, but the bureau said it would try to open one more quickly to give people a deeper understanding of Dongshan’s coffee.
Such a park would also serve as a pilot project, paving the way for similar tourist attractions in Tainan to promote the city’s various agricultural products, it said.
The association is already operating a coffee cultural museum built in a Japanese-style dormitory, where visitors can learn how coffee beans are grown and roasted, and what a coffee ecosystem looks like. They can also try a cup of Dongshan coffee at the museum.
The Tainan City Government has been sending Dongshan coffee beans to the US-based Coffee Quality Institute (CQI) for certification over the past eight years to help the local coffee compete in the market.
As of last year, 21 types of Dongshan coffee beans had scored more than 80 points to secure the Q Certificate from the CQI to obtain specialty coffee designation, the city government said.
Tainan has also been hosting the annual Dongshan Coffee Festival for more than a decade, from October or November, to bolster the district’s efforts to promote its coffee beans.
The city is also selling Dongshan coffee at the Dongshan service center along the Formosa Freeway (Freeway No. 3). It has also worked with the Taipei Agricultural Product Marketing Co to give people in northern Taiwan a taste of the district’s agricultural specialty.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and