Jin Der Chun Old Tea House Introduction
Jin De Chun Tea Shop was established in the seventh year of the Tongzhi era of the Qing Dynasty (1868) and has been passed down to the fifth generation. The tea shop remains in its original location to this day. Mr. Lin Yinglong, the fourth-generation owner, attended Liren Elementary School and recalls playing in the vicinity of Wumiao, Mazu Temple, and Guandi Port during his childhood. At that time, there were other businesses in the alley, such as tailor shops and lice comb makers. At the corner, there was a store selling stage lights, which were very bright and left a deep impression. The alley was known as “Zhou Qian Alley” due to the popularity of fortune-telling through drawing lots. A notable feature of the shop is the row of large tea jars that have been used to store tea leaves for over a century. These jars were brought to Taiwan by merchants from Tangshan during the Qing Dynasty. During the Japanese occupation, the American military bombed Taiwan, leveling nearby buildings and damaging many of the tea jars. Currently, there are less than ten remaining in the shop.
