Chun Shui Tang Teahouse

Chun Shui Tang opened in 1983 serving cold shaken tea, and the story is that in 1987 a product development manager tipped her tapioca dessert into an iced tea at a staff meeting and the result went on the menu. A Tainan teahouse makes a competing claim and the two argued it in court for a decade without a decisive answer. What is not in doubt is that pearl milk tea went from Taichung to the world, and the shop still makes it to order.

The main sights

• The pearl milk tea - shaken to order in the shop that claims to have started it.
• The shaking - the technique the house was founded on, used for its cold teas.
• The original branch - the Siwei Street shop where the story is set.
• The Taiwanese food menu - noodles and small dishes served alongside the tea.

When to go

Year round; branches keep long daily hours. Queues form at the original at weekends. Afternoons are the traditional tea hour.

Good to know

The invention claim is contested by Hanlin Tea Room in Tainan and the courts did not settle it. The original branch is busy and the experience is a chain teahouse. Prices are above street-stall level.

Nearby

Central Taichung surrounds it, and the theatre is northwest.