Maokong () is an area located in

Wenshan District Wenshan District is a district in Taipei, Taiwan. It is the southernmost district of the twelve districts in Taipei. ''Wenshan'' previously referred to the region south of the Taipei Basin (including Xindian and Pinglin). History In 1894 (lat ...

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

. The area used to be the biggest tea growing area of Taipei. There are many intertwining footpaths which have been used to transport

tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of ''Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and north ...

. Now, it is a popular place for

tea culture Tea culture is defined by the way tea is made and consumed, by the way the people interact with tea, and by the aesthetics surrounding tea drinking. Tea plays an important role in some countries. It is commonly consumed at social events, and ...

and viewing the night scenery of Taipei City.

Etymology

A prior theory states that the former name (; also ) refers to pothole formations. A recent publication suggests that the valley area was overrun with

masked palm civet The masked palm civet (''Paguma larvata''), also called the gem-faced civet, is a palm civet species native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. It has been listed as least concern on the IUCN Red List since 2008 as it occurs in many p ...

and hence its former

Hokkien The Hokkien () variety of Chinese is a Southern Min language native to and originating from the Minnan region, where it is widely spoken in the south-eastern part of Fujian in southeastern mainland China. It is one of the national languages ...

name (). During Japanese rule the name was recorded as , which in Hokkien could be read ''bâ-khang'', likely referring to the presence of the civets (''bâ'') in the valley (''khang'').

Features

Maokong is a suburb of Taipei. It sits on the edge of

Taipei Basin The Taipei Basin () is a geographic region in northern Taiwan. It is the largest basin in Taiwan. The basin is bounded by the Yangmingshan to the north, the Linkou Plateau to the west, and the Ridge of Xueshan Range to the southeast. The shape ...

; the entire city of Taipei can be seen from the mountain, especially on a cloudless day. There are many pathways for hiking such as from

National Chengchi University National Chengchi University () is a public research university in Taipei. The university is also considered as the earliest public service training facility of the Republic of China. First established in Nanjing in 1927, the university was subs ...

at the foot of the hill to the top of the mountain. On weekends many people come to Maokong to go hiking and climbing. Maokong still produces some tea, most notably

tieguanyin ''Tieguanyin'' (; Standard Chinese pronunciation ) is a variety of Chinese oolong tea that originated in the 19th century in Anxi in Fujian province. Tieguanyin produced in different areas of Anxi have different gastronomic characteristics. N ...

tea. The Taipei Tea Research and Promotion Center is in Maokong. Many restaurants in the area offer both tea and food. A combination of traditional tea culture, food, and scenery are the main reasons the area has become a popular tourist destination.

Transportation

The

Maokong Gondola The Maokong Gondola () is a gondola lift transportation system in Taipei, Taiwan. Opened on 4 July 2007, the Maokong Gondola operates between Taipei Zoo and Maokong. The line has four passenger stations. The facilities of the gondola were contra ...

, a

gondola lift A gondola lift is a means of cable transport and type of aerial lift which is supported and propelled by cables from above. It consists of a loop of steel wire rope that is strung between two stations, sometimes over intermediate sup ...

system, started operations on 4 July 2007. It connects to the

Wenhu line The Wenhu or Brown line (code BR) is a metro line in Taipei operated by Taipei Metro, named after the districts it connects: Wenshan and Neihu. It is an automated medium-capacity rubber-tyred metro line and is long, serving a total of 24 st ...

of the

Taipei Metro Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT), branded as Metro Taipei, is a rapid transit system serving the areas of Taipei and New Taipei in Taiwan, operated by the government-owned Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation, which also operates the Maokong Gondo ...

Taipei Zoo The Taipei Zoo, sometimes referred to as the "Muzha Zoo", is a public zoological garden in Wenshan District, Taipei, Taiwan. It is the most famous zoological garden in Taiwan and a leader in conservation, research and education, and recreation. ...

. The gondola was designed to make reaching Maokong more convenient for local residents and tourists. Service was suspended on 1 October 2008 due to erosion from mudslides under a support pillar. The gondola resumed service on 31 March 2010, after relocation of the pillar and passing safety inspections.

References

External links

Maokong Taipei Gondola official website
Tea culture {{taiwan-geo-stub

Etymology

Features

Transportation

See also

References

External links