3. From Taipei: Hsinchu Fall Farm Tour with Harvest Experience
Join a day trip from Taipei to Miaoli and Hsinchu with a guide to observe the Taiwanese countryside. See farmers turn chrysanthemums into tea and liquor in Tongluo, enjoy a local lunch in Baoshan, attend a sugarcane workshop at Xincheng Fengtang Leisure Park, and see persimmon orchards in Xinpu. Start with a visit to Chiuhu Terrace in Tongluo, Miaoli County. See chrysanthemums in full bloom cover the whole terrace, turning it into a gorgeous carpet of yellow and white. Learn how they are used to add color, flavor, and nutrition to food, herbal tea, and chrysanthemum liquor.
In addition to chrysanthemums, see the production of grows red dates (jujubes), which is exclusive to Miaoli County. Find out their significance in Chinese herbal medicine for the treatment of people with digestive disorders, skin problems, poor blood circulation, fatigue, etc.
At lunchtime, savor a healthy and tasty lunch made with these iron-rich red dates. After lunch, visit Baoshan, Hsinchu County. Once an important sugar-producing area in northern Taiwan, it has now been transformed into a leisure park to introduce the local sugar industry from seed to feed.
At Xincheng Fengtang Leisure Park, learn about the development of the sugar industry in Taiwan. Also, experience rural life with a hands-on sugarcane harvesting workshop, including reaping and juicing.
Next, visit Wei Wei Jia Persimmon Tourist Farm in Xinpu, Hsinchu County, which is well-known for turning ripe persimmons into delectable autumn treats. Capture the sunlight shining on the golden-yellow peeled persimmons on the drying racks.
Witness the process of making dried persimmons in a traditional way, and see how the golden-yellow peeled persimmons turn into sweet red-orange snacks. After the educational tour, head back to Taipei.