by xiaobai » Apr 12th, '15, 22:56
I would stay miles away from Ten Ren. As pointed out above, all they sell is crap.
Taipei YongKang (MRT, Dongmen 東門) area is full of relatively good teashops. But many of them are run by rather arrogant people and, being a foreigner, they will try to rip you off. Moreover, bear in mind that many shops in this area specialize in aged teas, that is, Oolongs and puerh that require deep pockets. The only exception are those near the MRT station, which are more tourist-oriented and sell the standard menu of Taiwan oolongs, some of them "organic". You may want to ask them to brew some before you buy.
Unfortunately, for the kind of teas you are most interested in (Korean and Japanese Greens) Taiwan is not a good place. Better buy on the internet. You can find some Japanese Green tea in speciality shops in Taipei (can't tell you off the top of my head, but I have visited some). However, they are not cheap and the value for the money is not high either.
Regarding Korean green teas, forget it. They are hard to find even in Korea.
However, if you want to buy some decent roasted Oolongs and some black teas, you may try to visit 串門、on 麗水街13巷9號. They also sell some quality teaware made by Taiwanese artists (and some Yixing, but not very old, mostly 90s). The prices are not cheap at all, but you are in Taipei, so better not to fancy any good deals. Also pay a visit to Lin's ceramics studio in the same area. You may want to get one of their gaiwans, they are good value for the money (about NT$1200).
Last but not least, Yingge has a wide selection of pottery and some teashops if you look around carefully. And not all of the stuff they sell comes from the mainland. There are a couple of Lin's ceramics outlets there, where you can get a better deal for that gaiwan. You can also look for some local artists' gaiwan. However, I would recommend that you do not spend a lot of money in an expensive/fancy gaiwan. The chances that you will eventually break it are much higher than for a teapot.
